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1A WebSerialNovel set in an AlternateHistory in which World War 1 ended two years early in complete stalemate, leaving Europe's governments and national borders largely unchanged. The world is ostensibly at peace, though a cold war still brews between the opposing sides. In the absence of military imperative, heavier-than-air flight has failed to reach practicality and the skies are ruled by airships.
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3Captain Roland P. Everett of the Royal Navy Airship Service is on routine patrol duty over the Pacific Ocean when his vessel is ambushed by a massive [[TheSkyISAnOcean cruiser]] of unknown origin. Caught by surprise, he is able to save only a few of his crew by taking refuge on the still-airborne bow of the bisected ship as the stern plunges into the ocean. They manage to reach an island containing a French colony, only to discover a German airship already docked. As the two nations are still officially at war, he decides to investigate, and finds himself drawn into a power struggle that threatens not only himself and his crew, but the very foundations of an already tenuous peace.
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5Find it [[http://airships.paulgazis.com/index.htm here]].
6----
7!!"The Flying Cloud" contains examples of:
8%% * AllohistoricalAllusion: many, most frequently to places that took prominence in WWII.
9%% * AlternateHistory
10%% * BigBad: The eight-engined airship, and whoever is running it.
11%% * BiLingualBonus
12%% * BrickJoke: "That's a very unimaginative name."
13%% * BrownNote: This is assumed to be how the FantasticNuke works.
14* ChekhovsGunman: If they're given a name, expect them to show up eventually.
15** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in Episode 122, when Captain Everett encounters a war surplus tank with the name "Chekhov's Gun" painted on its side. You'll never guess what vehicle the good Captain ends up driving just three episodes later...
16%% * ChristmasEpisode: Once a year, like clockwork.
17%% * CoolAirship: the ''Flying Cloud'', which is incredibly fast for its size.
18* CrazyPrepared: Jenkins is a signalman of the Royal Navy Signal Corps, goes into situations prepared for most eventualities, or has a particular set of skills or knowledge on the most obscure of subjects handy at the moment. Captain Everett explains that "his other talents remain a mystery, for members of the Signal Corps have secrets that are not for such as you and I to know."
19* DepletedPhlebotinumShells: This is one of the possibilities raised during an in-universe WildMassGuessing session about what the bad guys want with uraninite.
20%% * FantasticNuke: What the crew assumes the bad guys are building.
21%% * FishPeople: "Dear old Dagon and his wonderful fishy friends".
22%% * GambitPileup: It seems that the cast discover a new faction every time they walk through a door.
23%% * GeniusBonus: The amount of subjects needed to understand the references in each chapter is astounding.
24%% * IceQueen: Miss Perkins, though she may be [[DefrostingIceQueen thawing]] a ''little''.
25* ImAHumanitarian: One of the characters comes from a tribe of cannibals. PlayedForLaughs.
26%% * InMediasRes: Episode 1
27%% * LowerDeckEpisode: Episode 141
28%% * [[MessageInABottle Message In A Smuggling Crate]]
29* NoodleIncident:
30** Whatever Helga's crew did with cymbals and roller skates at the Germans' Christmas Party.
31** Episode 197 mentions a past conflict between Baron Warfield and Viscount Millbridge in Burma. All we know is that water buffalo were involved.
32*** Also, in the same episode, whatever Lady Millbridge did to Baroness Warfield with the ice skates and barrels of salt.
33%% * ObstructiveBureaucrat: One of the few privileges of being a clerk.
34%% * PrivateEyeMonologue:
35%% * Episodes 141 & 176
36%% * Episodes 370, 372, & 374 ("[[Literature/TheBigSleep The Big Sheep]]")
37* RichardNixonTheUsedCarSalesman: Creator/HPLovecraft is captain of a tramp freighter.
38* RunningGag:
39** "Oh, that's alright then."
40** Abercrombie and [=MacKiernan=] betting a shilling over anything and everything.
41** Iwamoto insists that he just "Comes with engines" whenever anyone questions him about his origin.
42** In the earlier chapters, Iverson expects scenarios to work out like the plots of radio dramas, then explained to that real life is not the same.
43** The Trapezohedron
44-->"I don’t have the slightest idea what you’re talking about," he replied, unable to imagine what the German could possibly want with a dual polyhedron of an n-gonal antiprism.
45%% * ShoutOut: Film/JamesBond, Creator/HPLovecraft, Creator/RaymondChandler, and Franchise/StarTrek each get a few.
46%% * Episode 54's title is one to The Darwin Awards.
47%% * There's also a subtle one to Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy. See if you can spot it!
48* ShownTheirWork: The author dives quite a bit into the details of airship piloting.
49* StiffUpperLip: The cast tries to keep proper English composure at all times (unless they're Scottish).
50* TheSkyIsAnOcean: Airships are operated by the navy, and are given names and classifications similar to water ships.
51%% * ZeppelinsFromAnotherWorld: The primary means of air travel, aside from a few enthusiasts.

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