The New World

[The Corsair]

Gebbert flung himself on to the barstool with a severely mauled hand.
"Gebbert, what's going on?" he asked as the bartender handed him his Ludwig Dunkel.
Suddenly, another man burst into the pub demanding to talk to Falko. He stood boldly up despite his almost useless legs and yelled back at the man.
"we have all had a hard few hours and I am by no means accountable for every shot fired! We lost comrades before there was even a definitive enemy to fight! Now I suggest you track down a more suitable target for your anger and leave me to help this clearly trouble man. Good day SIR!"
he sat down and angrily gulped at his beer before deciding he needed a heavier drink. He ordered a straight whiskey and turned back to Gebbert, hands shaking after verbal blasting he had just given the soldier.
"Now Gebbert, what is wrong?" he asked with genuine compassion on his face

[Mark Peiterson]

When Sean demanded to see falko he expected to see a brute of a man, not a boy caring for his friend,, he immediately felt disheartened and sick, and realized what his hurt and done to him, he aplolgised for his ungentlemanly behaviour and slipped the bartender a note reading...

Dear mr falko

I am extremely sorry for my preformance at the bar and I can assure you it is a one off, I am deeply remorseful to inform you the Sergemt Mark Peiterson is missing, presumed dead, I was a close friend of his and was with him to the end, he chose not to come abord the frigate but to defend it and our lives with the cost of his own, as I began talking it was made clear to me that the explosion happened from inside the ship and someone revered me to you. This I know gives no excuse fr my behaviour but it would be extremely insightful if we could talk, as I would like closure on my part and for his parents,

Regards
Sean Carter

out of the bar, but not before buying a pint and giving it to the man he attacked on the way there. Realizing what a day it had been he headed for the athena, while on the way he talked to a number of people, apparently someone called Julius Rowe had attributed to the destruction. He went to sleep later that night. His vengance was filled, his songs now of absolution.

[YetAnotherMatt]

"Battle stress Falko. I don't know how all of you are dealing with it." Gebbert downed the drink in front of him, barely noticing the taste.

"I suppose I should start at the beginning."

--- --- ---
"USAS Philadelphia, come to heading one-three-five, and engage enemy frigate off your port bow."

The noise in the command centre was subdued. While outside cannon fire and shell impacts dominated the air and the noise of exploding gas bags and twisting metal was a constant accompaniment, in here the noise was that of people analysing the situation and giving orders, the soft clicks of armatures adjusting, or sliding back into racks as the ships they represented were destroyed.

"We have an enemy scout group moving around their left flank, about 3 kilometres above the main battle."

Both sides were well aware of the three-dimensional nature of airship combat, Captain Skarssen's battle plan was loose enough for individual captains to show their initiative, but the unprecedented level of communication between the ships was an edge they had desperately needed.

"Trident, Wolverine and their gunboats are moving to engage enemy scout group."

"Three enemy cruisers are moving to reinforce their scout group."

The US Military had only just implemented ship-to-ship aether-wave the year before. The presence of the main training base in New York mean that Captain Skarssen had over a hundred communications officers and their sets in his line of battle. The few with the best scores on their officer tests had been assigned to the command centre aboard the Hammer and the rest were giving a level of co-ordination that no airship commander had had before.

"A mercenary destroyer and frigate have broken off, and are heading to reinforce the Wolverine."

The mercenaries and privateers, though enthusiastic, lacked the co-ordination necessary for the battle line, and were flanking, harassing and engaging targets of opportunity, mostly on their own initiative.

"Another two cruisers are leaving the enemy formation for that furball up there."

Their enemy seemed to enjoy even better communications then they did, though their formation was flatter than the military one, as they attempted to punch though the military lines.

Captain Skarssen's voice appeared back in Gebbert's communicator. "Those cruisers have opened a hole over an enemy carrier. Tell the Implacable that they can try the plan we mentioned.

"Right. Implacable this is command. Proceed towards the Trident, but a kilometre out, turn to 245, and proceed with Slipstream."

"Implacable acknowledges."

The Dreadnought lifted from formation, nosing around to face the growing skirmish. As it accelerated, another three enemy cruisers lifted, denying the enemy carrier most of its escort force. Heartened by their enemy taking the bait, the Implacable twisted, moving with a speed that belied its massive bulk. The enemy cruisers, taken in by the feint, circled around, coming into line as if to engage the Implacable in a broadside duel. Long range fire flew between the two groups, none finding its mark. The Implacable had the better position, and surged forwards, staying level, two kilometres above the enemy carrier. The enemy cruisers seemed to slacken their pursuit as their carrier moved into the blind spot under the Implacable. They moved around, trying to bring as many guns to bear as possible. Suddenly, the Implacable stopped firing. For a heartbeat, it hung there, then it suddenly seemed to fall out of the sky.

The Dreadnought spun as it fell, rolling over as the sudden loss of buoyancy redistributed its weight. For what seemed like an age, it tumbled down towards the enemy fleet. Almost as suddenly as it began, the fall stopped. The Implacable had completed the manoeuvre perfectly: It nestled between the enemy carrier and a large cargo tender.

"Implacable here. Slipstream completed."

The pause lasted another two seconds. Every gun on the Implacable fired, pumping sheets of cannon fire into the two ships, which seemed to stunned to respond. Huge holes appeared along the side of the carrier, exposing the interior decks, which were swept clear by the next volley, causing many secondary explosions. The carrier lost shape as internal supports disintegrated under the concentrated fire. Burning, the carrier fell with a strange grace out of the sky. The cargo tender fared no better. Torn open and with most of it's substructure destroyed, ammunition transference armatures shattered, the entire ship seemed to crumple and split into two separate sections, both of them burning, yet still miraculously afloat, trailing crates of supplies. Neither had fired a single shot. The three cruisers were diving down, driven by some need for vengeance. The Implacable was turning back towards the Military's lines, but the gas it had vented to perform the fall had left it with crippled movement and agility. The lead cruiser had almost drawn level with its target when the cargo tender's remains exploded.

From the Hammer's bridge, Captain Skarssen saw the fireball light up the twilit sky. The lead cruiser was destroyed, flung out of formation and snapped into three pieces by the force of the blast, which immolated the small gunships that had been escorting the carrier. The Implacable fared only slightly better, tossed nearly half a kilometre towards its own lines, with cannon barrels melted and armour plating warped by the heat. Somehow, it stayed in control, continuing its limp towards the lines.

"Gebbert." It was the first time that Captain Skarssen had used his name. "We need to stop those two cruisers from pursuing the Implacable. They are reporting ninety percent damage to armour and weaponry."

"We don't have many forces in range, sir."

"We need something, anything!"

"There is a frigate with a mercenary squadron that are conducting harassing attacks nearby."

"Good, send them to cover the Implacable's retreat."

"They're out gunned two-to-one."

"We don't have any other options. Which frigate?"

"The Gambier Bay sir."

"Gambier Bay, Hammer. Turn to 168 actual and engage those enemy cruisers before they reach the Implacable." Gebbert thought there was a note of sadness in the Captain's voice.

"Very well sir, Gambier Bay moving to intercept and screen. Wish the Implacable the best." The voice had little accent, and seemed perfectly resigned to the task at hand.

Gebbert realised that the command centre was silent. All eyes were on the circle representing the Implacable, and the small group rushing to protect it. The only noise was the occasional rattle of armatures into the holding racks.

Aboard the Gambier Bay Captain Gene Northrin reviewed the situation. The two enemy cruisers were still pursuing the Implacable. His ship and the mercenaries following it lined up to pass just behind the cruisers. They were within 400 metres before the cruisers seemed to notice them. The enemy's 8" cannon spat shells towards them, swatting mercenary gunships out of the air. The Frigate shook as it peppered the enemy with smaller calibre weapons, rounds sparking off armour plating and digging holes in wood.

"It's no good, lieutenant. We just can't hurt these cruisers!"

"Target their engines. We can't let them continue their pursuit."

The Cruisers close in weapons chattered, holing more of the mercenaries. A mercenary gunship, clipped by a shell, spun out into the port side of the near cruiser. Small explosions on the right hand side of the ship showed that the Gambier Bay's gunners had found their mark.

"It's drifting, or as good as." called the lieutenant.

"Bring us around for another pass, and keep dodging. It's engines might be gone, but the guns are still operational."

"Don't worry sir!" shouted the enthusiastic ensign at the helm. "I could do this all da-"

The explosion tore through the frigate, the second cruiser hitting with all six of its port guns. The ensign lay bleeding from a shrapnel wound, and as the rest of the bridge crew got to their feet, the communications officer fell through the floor, screaming as he fell through the space the gun deck used to occupy.
Captain Northrin looked at the stairwell. All six decks below the bridge had simply stopped existing.

"Get us moving!" he yelled. "We can't be here when they reload." The lieutenant scrambled to the wheel, and the frigate began to drift forwards.
It wasn't quite enough. Two more shells hit the crippled airship, showering shrapnel across the bridge crew, and flinging Captain Northrin to the ground.

"We still have all engines." said the lieutenant, impossibly calm. "Orders?"

"Is- Is the Impla- Implacable clear?" Captain Northrin was propped against the defunct gunnery controls. Blood from his mouth and leg dribbled to mix with the ensign's on the floor.

"Not yet, sir."

"Ram the bastards."



Captain Skarssen dispactched the Truxtun to tow the Implacable back to the skydock for repairs. A hundred things had vied for his attention since the start of the Gambier Bay's attack run.

Gebbert watched the armatures representing the cruiser and the frigate both slide back into place. He walked around to the holding racks, found the piece of glass that had represented the Gambier Bay, and pocketed it.

--- --- ---
Gebbert's accent had grown thicker as he related the end of his story. Another three glasses were on the tabletop, and he had no idea what they had contained. The blood on his hand had dried, and Falko still sat across from him, listening intently.

"Something about it has been in my head ever since."

[The Corsair]

He had long since downed his drink by the time Gebbert was done with the full story. He hadn't ordered another drink, he wanted to have his head level on his shoulders if the enemy re-engaged.

"The last thing a young man by the name of Arx Nimbus ever said to me was "I suppose I should be getting these disguises then... Is that all?" We don't know what happened to him but had it not happened, he would be with us here fighting this threat that he was more than prepared to fight. He never even got to see New York, it was night time and the skyline was all but invisible at the time. His chance at a new life was ruined by these people and we're going to meet many other men who find their own lives cut short by this enemy. If this particular scene haunts you then I'm genuinely sorry that I can do nothing to help you and I can only deliver the news that many more things like it will happen. This only goes over my head because I'm making a mental point to live in the moment somewhat. I deal with things as they happen. If I tried to think about this thing we have to face, to plan how we will combat it, to even put the rough numbers into my head I would break down and leave this country calling the attainment of victory an impossible task."

It really was all he had to offer and he hoped that Gebbert would be alright.

"You should go to a medical bay somewhere and get your hand looked at..." He recommended to Gebbert.

"Has anyone not checked in?" he asked as he turned back to Julius, whom he had somewhat ignored, though not intentionally, after Gebbert had arrived.

[lazarusofartemis]

Ekaterina sighed and climbed onto a ship. Alex and Yuri were on the ship.
"Do you two have any ideas what that is about?" she asked, pointing to the parcel of information.

[Augustus Longeye]

"No, I did a head count and none of us are dead. There might be some injuries, but obviously nothing too major or we would have heard. Here, give me that hand." and without waiting Julius pulled the bleeding hand out and set to work healing it. He pulled out a handful of earth he'd kept in his pocket (he knew he'd put it there for a reason) and pressed it to the wound, ignoring the grimace of pain it caused, and leached all the energy from it, directing it the the edges of the wound. After a few moments it was done.
"There, it'll be good for movement, it'll probably bruise a little because I missed a few capillaries, but don't worry they'll heal on their own." He thought for a moment and then asked; "And as for the horrors of war? Just think; what if we didn't do this. We put ourselves through this, so that the people out there don't."

[The Corsair]

Julius' words to Gebbert echoed in his mind for a moment as the message sunk in...
He was right. That was the real reason they fought. Sure they were defending America but they could have just as easily left it to the next person. They did this because they were the best for it and those other people shouldn't have to fight.
"That's a relief that everyone's made it..." he said, breaking the short silence, "Is there a plan being made for re-engagement?"

[Augustus Longeye]

"To my knowledge no, but then I'll admit I haven't been paying much attention to stage two. I'm surprised we made it through stage one. I would guess we hold off an attack until either we're fully ready or they begin another assault. As soon as they do we have no choice but to take back to the air and defend." Julius paused for a moment. "Or do we...?"
He waved for the barman, a pensive expression on his face as he ordered a large whiskey and downed it.
"Could we, hypothetically, make a hidden strike? Just a few of us go and do as much damage to the enemy as possible then retreat back to the fleet?"

[Blindwalker]

The officer sat heavily in a chair. The deaths... at least they died defending America...
"Package for officer Hugo Machus and squad." said a postman. Hugo waved a hand to call him over.
"Hugo Machus?" Hugo nodded.
"Please sign here to confirm delivery." He bent over the paper and scribbled his signature. The post man looked at the signature, and passed the officer a huge, heavy, brown box.
"Here you are sir. As always, have a nice day." He smiled, then left Hugo with the box in his lap.
He opened the top of the box. There was a note on top of a large revolver, and a light machine gun. Both prototypes. Below that was a huge amount of ammunition, of different kinds, from 9mm to armor piercing. The note read:

'To the Senior Officer and my squad.

If you are reading this note, you know that I have passed away, defending our free country. I give you my equipment, my new experimental weapons for the whole team to try out. To my commander, Hugo Machus, I give you my revolver to keep. To my great friend Robert Hill, you can have my light machine gun. To the whole squad, have the ammunition that I have been working on. If they work, please put them into production. The blueprints for them are at the bottom of the box, including the weapons. Use them well.

Jonathan Pierre'

The letter ended. He was the one making the new AP bullets, Hugo thought. He switched his attention to his new revolver. It was strong and robust, didn't look like it would ever need any repairs or servicing. The barrel was long, and the revolver could only hold 5 bullets. He went to his squad and gave Robert Hill the light machine gun, and gave them the rest of the box.

He went over to the Hammer, to an indoor firing range. He loaded the revolver, and took aim at the green paper man. He gripped onto the gun tightly, just in case it went flying if he fired a shot. He paused, then fired a round. The gun made a huge sound, almost deafening Hugo, as if a grenade went off at his feet. The recoil - well, his hands were thrust into his chest, and jarring his hands from the shock. He was stunned - he had never held a gun this powerful. He looked at the final result, and saw the green paper man was no more. A huge hole through the chest of it, and even punched through the light armored plating behind that. He was impressed. But could have Jonathan made a gun with the same power, less sound and recoil?

[Man of Steam]

Alex had just gotten up from a nap, he had needed the rest after rushing to New York, and the following battle.
He had been talking to Yuri when Kat came up to them.
"Do you two have any ideas what that is about?"
"No" Alex said. "Between rushing here, and fighting, I didn't get a chance to look at the parcel, did you?"

[thefrozenwulf]

Yuri couldn't sleep. the spirit in the aether had taken over again, and it used him to kill an entire ship's worth of men. with the battle over, Yuri knew he should be hardly able to move. he was very fatigued. he had had to jump of the ship after he killed the pilots, and only just managed to grab hold of a rope on an allied airship. however, something was keeping him awake. maybe its the guilt, he thought. his actions in the battle had led to the loss of hundreds of lives. the situation Yuri had worked himself into was so bizarre, he could hardly believe it himself.he was just a Russian peasant, and now, he was fighting to save a country he had no business in being in, other than keeping an eye on his mother. her doctor sent him letters every month about her condition, and according to him, she was getting worse. sometimes, Yuri wondered if he had made the right choice by coming along for this adventure. that question was still unanswered.

[lazarusofartemis]

"That was my point," Kat replied, showing them the parcel. "I've found out that in aether, there are sentient beings that live amongst them and can be summoned...but I am not sure if it has anything to do with the angels."
She looked out into the horizon. "Maybe we should find the others and discuss to them about what we have found."

[The Corsair]

"Julius that's brilliant! We need to find Fergus, Cenek and Alex, we should have those of us that are the most competent with their powers go... Shall we adjourn?"

[Mark Peiterson]

Mark stirred from his gentle sleep. Lying on the ground in a patch of greenery paralyzed He looked above him into the gloomy night sky. Around him burned in the buildings, burned in the rubble, the despair and sorrow, the life and love lost, the homes destroyed. Above him dark shapes filled the air.
"Falko, if your out there, you better gets these basterds out of New York, better do it fast!"
And then his vision faded, above his unconcious body flew the dark fleet, doubled in size, doubled in fury.

[Augustus Longeye]

"You're welcome, we should indeed go!" Julius waved for another whiskey, and when he proffered a handful of notes the barman shook his head and wandered off. "Hmm... one of the lesser known perks of war is free whiskey apparently..." he murmured to Falko, before dropping the notes on the bar and striding off.

[Blindwalker]

The co-pilot of the Hammer swore loudly. Everyone looked at him strangely, and some came up to see what the problem was. Some of them swore.
The co-pilot turned and went to fetch Hugo.
"Sir, something's happening."
"Is it really that important to wake me from my sleep?" Hugo recognized the rank of the person who woke him up. "Oh, uh, yes Captain. Is there trouble?"
He was asleep? He thought. "I am sorry to wake you. You have to come with me."
The Captain showed him a map, with small model airships and buildings.
"Sir, look at this. This is currently our position," he said pointing to a small group of model airships, "And this is the reinforcements that we will have coming." He pointed to a slightly larger group of airships not far behind their own.
"Alright, are there any problems sir?" asked the officer.
"This," he pointed at a huge group of black model airships, "is the problem. There are so many enemy gunships that we have run out of models for them. They look like they are forming, one, a defensive wall, and two, a small spearhead with the frigates.
"Oh, my, this is going to a be a big problem. Is this going to be a difficult to handle?"
He thought for a moment. "Not at all sir, but all we needed were your ships as they are a major part of our plan."
"I'll tell my ships to be alert and to take a phalanx arrangement immediately." Yawning, he said, "In the morning."

[The Corsair]

Only about 30 minutes had actually passed since the last engagement had ended, though it truly felt like hours. He guessed they had about an hour more until the enemy was ready to engage.
He found Skarssen and left him with instructions to plan a quick-scramble defense plan should they re-engage before following Julius who soon found Cenek, Fergus and Alex. They were all that was left of those on the steamship, it was a crushing thought.
"Gentlemen, and lady of course," he smiled at Rosie as he said it, "Julius has had an idea that suggests we fly in as something of an 'infiltration mission' to get into their lines and destroy as much as we can before they re-engage. Who's game?"

[Man of Steam]

Alex had finished talking to Kat, when he was pulled over by Falko.
He payed attention to what he said, and thought about it for a second.
"I'm in." Said Alex. "If this works, we can hopefully win this without causing too much bloodshed."

[YetAnotherMatt]

Gebbert had slept through Skarssen's announcement that all the various aether-networks for communication that they had were now all united into a general command network. Normally Gebbert would have found this a vindicating, but he was asleep on one end of the bar at the time.

He awoke about twenty minutes after Falko and Julius had left. Everything was blurred, but the voice in his head had, mercifully, stopped. He tried to take stock of the situation by counting the glasses on the bar in front of him.

"One... Three... Four... Two... Eight... Four... ..Many." he finally settled on. He knew it should have bothered him, but he had better things to deal with right now. He saw the notes Julius had left on the bar, and figured that he had been nice enough to settle the difference.

As he left, Captain Skarssen spoke over the command network.

"We have preliminary casualty figures from the first phase of the battle."

"Fleet strength stands at seventy percent. Of the thirty percent casualties, ten percent are destroyed and the remaining twenty percent are too damaged to continue the battle. This includes the Implacable which has an estimated repair time of 3 weeks in sky dock, and another week of non-combat duties. Of our seventy percent strength, sixty percent of our fleet made it through relatively unscathed, with the remaining ten percent lightly damaged."

"On the personnel side of things, we have no proper count, but we estimate about 4500 KIA, MIA, or seriously wounded. This amounts to about fifteen percent personnel casualties. In ordinary circumstances, this would be enough to force a withdrawal from the combat. Unfortunately, that is not an option. As much as it would make sense, there is no time to evacuate the city below, and we cannot let it suffer the fate of Seattle. All crews are to stay at full attention so we are at full readiness if the enemy recommences battle."

[The Corsair]

The 6 of them were flying off as Skarssen read out the general figures. It was funny really, how Skarssen was only captain of one ship, the implacable, but was essentially in command of the whole fleet.

-Cliff-
He had lost the young boys he had taken on as crew. He figured it was better than the death-by-starving they would have otherwise experienced. It was a shame still. His ship didn't have the automated weapons the others did so he needed gunners out on the deck, which if course made them vulnerable.
The raging battle had driven most of the beggars that normally littered the dock away so finding new gunners was difficult. It was then that he spotted the young Russian boy who he had met briefly in New York before they left. Yuri, he thought his name was. He spoke to Yuri.
"Do you have a ship to fly on young man?"

[Augustus Longeye]

Julius had left Barum behind. As optimistic as he had been in the bar, he was angry. He had watched a lot of people die, and there seemed to be no good reason for it. A war he could understand, both sides fought because they thought they were right... but this side didn't seem to have an 'opinion' as to what was right, they just seemed to be trying to annihilate the entire country, one city at a time.
He figured that when they began their attack they would show displays of power unseen before. They would have no limits and would just have to do as much as they could in the shortest time. That would terrify anyone watching.

[Blindwalker]

.

[Blindwalker]

.

[Mark Peiterson]

-Sean-

"...Then the idiot ran off across the feild and fell into a ditch!" howled dimitri.
The men around him literally fell of the benches laughing. Even Sean smirked, but laughter is bitter to a burned mouth.

Sean and the remander of his squad where on route to make a sorte to distract the enemy from the main attack.
Then came the thud as the gunship touched down.
Sean stood up and made some hand motions.
"Right kids let's keep this tight, I want to be home for supper."

[Augustus Longeye]

Julius pulled his ship as low as he could get it, and the small group of ships circled the enemy and came at the from behind. They remained unnoticed, obviously all the enemies lookouts were watching the main fleet and making sure they weren't attacking. Unfortunately for them, it was too late. Julius locked the wheel, pointing the Raven back to the dock, and then leapt off the side.
The earth rushed up to meet him... quite literally, surging out of the ground to grab him and lift him higher. He covered himself and within a second punched through the bottom of an airship. There was a deafening explosion as he realised he'd misjudged it and hit the boiler. The ship went down in flames, and Julius lowered the covering so he could see what was going on.
There was panic on the ships now, people had noticed their group and were turning. They had very little time before they had to be away, and a lot of damage they needed to do.
He grinned once more, and levelled his hands. With a flick he sent the coal spinning out of the bigger ships, letting their boilers very quickly run low and the ships gently fell to the ground, to be swallowed up. It took a heartbeat, but at least twenty ships were gone.
"Shame it only works on the big'uns" Julius muttered, and leapt onto another ship to continue the destruction.