Apple Island, Airbase, The Docks

Smiling, Jaros extends one hand towards Hellwing as a thick cbles extends toward him. He grabs it, moves it towards his back and lets himself get pulled up towards the open part of the planes armor. Slight pain and confusion flashes on his face as he connects with his plane.

"Ah, how I have missed this feeling", he exclaims as the plans begins moving towards the runway in a smooth motion more alike to a living being than a mere machine. "Engine clear, it is time to hunt punk ass lizards and I will not let myself be delayed any further!", he roars with the engines, shooting out towards the sky.

edited 5th May '17 10:58:23 AM by Blackie

As the Aeronaughts breached the sky, they would find a swarm of dragons. They were no insects, no, these Dragons were classified as 'Drakes'-reptiles of various scales that had large, membrane wings for arms that were powerful enough to blow a house down. They were roughly as bag as a standard plane and there had to be at least 50 of the winged terrors flying towards the island-and now, them.

If they cared enough to tune their radios onto the channel that the UNI Soldiers used, they'd hear the commands of Newman, most likely speaking to his crew. "Alright, men! Get into the Beta Formation! Aim for the head or wings! Don't split from the group!" The planes got into a formation that looked almost hexagonal, like a beehive or a net. Once they flew towards the swarm of Drakes, they started to unload their bullets at the flying reptiles.

Apple Island, Airspace

Due to Squash Island not able to properly utilize electricity neither Minerva's nor Aydan's plane - or any plane manufactured there for that matter - did have a radio. Instead she started lowering the hook slowly, Aydan knew what that meant by now and was ready to get thrust on the engine at a moments notice. The two were currently flying way above the cloud layer in about 7km altitude, that was as far as Minerva could climb. Soon enough Aydan brought full thrust on the engine and the fighter was nearly enveloped in a cloud of steam as he undocked from the bomber. From now on Aydan was on his own and both knew that. While Minerva flew the bomber nearer towards the dragons - 2 glidebombs in her bomb-bay just waiting to be released. Aydan flew besides her, always ready to attack whoever would seek to end either of their lives.

"One may feel fear in the face of danger so long as one banishes fear when danger actually arrives"

"——sighted off the port bow, Captain!"

Ines Mokrani looked up from her paperwork at Theodora's tinny voice rattling out of the brass telephone headset to her left. She popped it out of its cradle with one hand, pen still clutched in the other, and shoved the headset in between her shoulder and ear so she could pull the mouthpiece close.

"Olivier, what's going on up there?"

"Drakes, Captain!" Theodora's voice blasted in Ines' ear. She jerked her head away from the noise and the headset crashed onto her desk, smudging ink.

"Damn!" She fetched up the headset again. "How many? And you can stop shouting, I can hear you just—"

"Looks like two score at least, Captain!" Theodora shouted.

"Damn!" Ines said again, this time because drakes were far more maneuverable than the Ironwood Darling and prone to using their clawed feet to tear holes in anything they could grab. Even though the dirigible balloon was well-armored, forty drakes in a swarm could do a lot of damage if they set their minds to it.

"Olivier, I want you in the gunner compartment. Get me Miles on the flight deck, tell her to set the brake and prepare to take us down. I'm coming up."

"Aye captain!"

Ines slammed the headset back into its cradle and hauled herself out of her chair, taking a moment to reach down and tighten the straps that held her prosthetic leg in place. She didn't need chafed skin on top of everything else that was about to happen today. She made her way out of her cabin and hurtled along the corridor, slowing to a walk as she reached the steep stairs that led up into the pilot's bay. The dirigible lurched as Millicent threw the emergency brake, and Ines braced herself against the stairs' railing as the solar-powered fans that hung beneath the cabin ground to a halt. When the cabin stopped swaying she finished climbing the stairs.

—

Up in the pilot's bay, Millicent was already starting to wind the crank that would pull the solar fans from their front-facing array to their upward-facing one. Coop was helping, since the job was faster if you had a spotter to make sure that the cables didn't tangle on the pulley. Ines motioned for them to continue. As they worked she grabbed for the telephone next to the ship's wheel and asked, "Olivier, what can you see?"

Theodora's voice came back hollow and unintelligible.

"Say that again?"

The words were repeated, still unintelligible, but louder this time. Ines put down the phone and took a deep breath.

"OLIVIER!" she bellowed. "WHAT DO YOU SEE?"

"DRAKES, CAPTAIN," came the reply, echoing through the door from the gunner compartment. "FIFTY AT LEAST. THEY'RE ABOUT TO BE ON UNI LIKE BROWN ON RICE!"

"GET THE SHRAPNEL CANNON READY!"

"AYE CAPTAIN!"

Ines turned back to Millicent and Coop. "Are the fans locked?"

"About to be," Coop said without looking up from his work. A moment later he threw the latch that would hold the cables in place. "Ready when you are, ma'am."

"Keep an eye," Millicent advised. "We never got a chance to pick up new cabling in Hazel Town so if anything frays—"

Coop nodded.

"Hold on," Ines said as she took the wheel. "We're heading down." She kicked off the brake and pushed the wheel forwards, the solar fans roaring to life beneath her dirigible. They pulled the ship slowly downwards, a speed that was safe for the crew and cargo but not one that was fast enough for Ines' liking. Drakes were nasty, and fast, and they tended to swarm anything they felt couldn't fight them off. A biplane was one thing; it could turn fast enough to shoot the beasts out of the sky and it could find shelter on the ground if it needed to. A dirigible like the Ironwood Darling had no such maneuverability. Ines had planned to send Miles to the UNI hanger to request a military escort, or to get someone who was willing to do the same job for as little money as possible, but she'd wanted to find someplace to dock for the night first. This sudden swarm was unexpected and vexing, and it would cost Ines time she could be spending getting her shipment where it needed to go, and that meant it would cost her money, which was unacceptable.

With drakes, though, there was little to be done except take cover until someone else took care of the problem.

"Prepare for landing!"

edited 23rd May '17 11:52:42 AM by SmallishGiraffe

"Oh, Rip." Commented Charlotte as she saw the new dirigible arrive and subsequently reposition without opening up on anyone yet. "None for them huh?" As the Drakes came in for the VCV, Charlotte first thinned out the weak of the herd with her scatterguns, a spray of shots that cut down the drakes that honestly wouldn't have made it through the winter if they didn't die here. Now, see, against a VCV, drakes were like manhandling children. As long as you could keep them at arm's length you were totally fine. Charlotte pulled up and away from the wing of military dogs, up above the worst of the swarm, and threw her gear shift again. The wings flipped, once more, into clawed arms, and the VCV started to plummet. Charlotte's face took on a manic grin as she fell, and the plane brought out half its real payload: the circular saw. The saw made wide sweeps as it fell through the swarm, churning through the drakes like grass as it fell, and Charlotte emerged out the other side significantly wetter and redder than she'd entered. She grabbed the radio and checked in.

"First run is successful, though in this weather all the blood's gonna cake on something awful if I don't go clean up. Anyone need assistance?" She threw the same lever again as she neared the water and flipped the legs back into engines, kicking up a refreshing spray that mostly just hit the underside of the plane, throwing up a head of steam behind her. As it stood Charlotte was planning to dip into the water for a second to clean off anything left on or in the VCV before climbing once more.

edited 23rd May '17 2:45:45 PM by Taco

Lyleth frowned at the formation. All well and pretty, but if the drakes got on them they'd be ripped to shreds with little room to maneuver. "Anashide, I want the turret doing turret things and drakes dropping like flies." She spun the ship, angling it to be able to bring the broadside-mounted autocannons to bear. "Shynri, tear them out of the sky!"

The two autocannons that faced the oncoming swarm opened up, each explosive shell tearing through and exploding in whatever drake that it hit. The shots from the turrets were rather less powerful - but they still packed a punch, and there were a lot more of those bullets, and any drake caught in the path for anything more than a few moments was shredded.

Granted, that wasn't an easy task when both on a moving platform and when your target is moving.

All are significantly abnormal in a normal world... All are significantly normal in an abnormal world.

Shrapnel and fire filled the air as Drakes were being shot out of the sky by various pilots. The Ironwood Darling would be the target for a squad of about 3 Drakes as they attacked the dirigible. While two attacked the body of the ship, one tried to tear off it's back fan with it's strong talons.

Meanwhile, a much larger group of Drakes started to attack Charlotte and her ship, one screeching and leading the charge of 10 Drakes, the lead one bashing its body against the ship as her ship was surrounded by the numbers.

As more Drakes fell from the sky, however, a loud booming noise seem to echo through the air.

"What the hell was that?!"

"Stay on target, men! We're not out of the-" Newman's voice was muted as a much larger, reptilian monster jumped from the water with a loud roar. It had large fins on its back and they flapped up a small rain shower as it's large claws grabbed at planes like they were small toys, crushing them within his grasp as it's serpent-like lower body cut another UNI plane in half.

Newman was barking commands as this new Dragon cropped from the sea. A Sea Serpent, a pretty rare and devastating Dragon that rarely traveled with members of it's own kind, let alone with a group of Drakes. But regardless of why it was here, it's eyes locked onto Minerva and Ayden's planes as he flapped his fins, hovering for just a moment as he opened his jaws. A beam of freezing energy was released from his maw, and if this beam were to hit either plane, it would be as though they took a dip in liquid nitrogen.

All the while, a swarm of 8 Drakes had started to surround the _Lucent Glave_, 2 biting and clawing at their turrets. They'd be strong enough to tear into the metal, but not strong enough to destroy the turrets or ruin it's internal machinery.

Apple Island, Airspace

Aydan Minerva and her crew all watched in a mix of awe and horror as the Sea Serpent surfaced, quickly replaced by shock as they realized who it targeted. Both planes tried to get away from the beam, although neither actually managed to. Aydan was the lucky of the two as 'only' his undercarriage and the right elevator were hit, the latter just breaking off. Minerva all the while had to realize that her left engine was now frozen along with the aileron on that wing, plus the ice on the wing reduced its lift, all of which resulted in the plane slowly started to turn to the left while rolling over to the right. Despite this, Minerva - although only barely - barely managed to retain control. She immediately released both Steamer glidebombs in the direction of the giant dragon, both to try taking the dragon out and to reduce the weight of the plane, all the while the twin 7,92mm machine gun at the front started firing upon the giant beast. Aydan started climbing, wanting to do a strafing run with all four 7,92mm machine guns blazing, trying to target its head.

edited 27th May '17 4:24:31 AM by Sergey_Smirnov

"One may feel fear in the face of danger so long as one banishes fear when danger actually arrives"

"They got good comunication, I have to give them that, but they lacked experience..."', Jaros comments about his fallen comrades, vowing to remember them.

"Data gathering complete, starting subroutines.", Hellwings voice chirped into his direct comunication port.

'"Finally!", he exclaims as his ships boosters come to life, catapulting him forward as missiles streak forward and outward, exploding near and in the masses of dragons ahead. Charlotte may notice that the explosions might shake her, but that they in the end do not impede her movement or fighting options.

"Loading secondary barrage.", the voice chirped into his ear as he looked at the Sea Serpent below him.

edited 27th May '17 4:38:40 AM by Blackie

Theodora's voice thundered down the hallway from the gunner compartment: "INCOMING, CAPTAIN!"

It was Ines' only warning before a massive, red-and-gray mottled drake slammed into the reinforced plastiglass and steel side of the pilot's bay. The whole dirigible rocked at the impact.

"Shit!" Coop barked as he slammed into the fan crank. Millicent helped him to his feet as Ines thrust the ship's wheel forward to try and get the dirigible to sink faster. The brass gauges by her left hand began to edge into the red.

The distant whine of rending metal momentarily distracted Ines from the blistering screech of drake claws on plastiglass. The Ironwood Darling jerked backwards, then sideways. "OLIVIER, WHAT'S HAPPENING?"

Theodora's raised voice rattled out of the telephone; apparently, the dirigible's sudden movement had cleared the blockage in the pipe. "Three drakes, Captain! I can try and clear out the ones to front and starboard but we've got one on the back-fan that the harpoons can't reach!"

"I can keep an eye on the one in front of me," Ines said. "You focus on our starboard side. Miles?"

"On it," Millicent said, already putting out her hand. Ines unhooked her keys from her belt and tossed them over.

"Coop?"

"Ma'am?"

"How much of a beating can our diesel fan take?"

The equipment locker near the back of the room crashed a little as Millicent yanked open the sticky-hinged door. Coop's eyes flicked to it.

"Coop?" Ines snapped her fingers, pulling focus from Millicent as she sorted through the boxes of ammunition in the locker. "One thing at a time."

Coop's gaze swung back towards her, focusing on the gauges off her left shoulder. "All our fans are built to withstand gale-force winds, so it'll take some work, but I reckon a drake the size of this one—" he nodded to the red-and-gray beast that had given up trying to scratch through the plastic glass and was now backing up a few yards to come in for another body-slam, "—could tear that thing apart in a matter of minutes."

"Can we blow it away?"

"I sure can try," Millicent said, and cocked the shotgun.

"I'm going to be perfectly honest, I feel sort of insulted." Remarked Charlotte at the small-fry coming for her. It was also definitely the case that this would have been a lot easier if the big one came at her. And if the thing that came out of the ocean was a normal dragon that had bones in its wings! That looked like it had spines instead, nothing to break with this fucking useless clamp she'd brought along. Maybe it still had a skeleton.

The VCV18A was an amphibious machine though, and Charlotte had a plan. It was chill if you lost your grip on a scaffold and tumbled into the ocean, because there wasn't a canopy or really anything restraining you, and the body wasn't shaped to pin too easily either. Also the engines still ran fine down there. Aware of this, Charlotte threw the throttle forward and took a nice dip in the ocean—just real quick, in order to get any bits of Dragon left on her and in the bits of the machine. And to hope she'd shake the Drakes, like that they were amphibious. In the middle of a fight it was nice to just immerse yourself in the waves real briefly, that cool water on your skin washing away the bits. Then she emerged, the VCV18 glittering beautifully in the sunlight, ready for another run. She stayed simple here: "I want to focus on the large dragon, and the smaller drakes will probably continue to try to mob me. They'll be easy pickings for someone else."

Charlotte targetted the leviathan; the VCV18 was made to crawl and climb as much as it could fly, and this was just what she was looking for, and rather than tangle with the drakes she just sort of flailed the arms, bashing away at them as she gunned it towards the dragon. Still hoping she was successful, Charlotte deployed the machine back into its walking form and clung to the side with certainty. One arm once again reached for a weapon, but this time it brought out an enormous industrial clamp, a set of huge jaws converted from holding together structures into something for raw crushing power. She eyeballed the monster's anatomy and crawled to its spine, raised one ghoulish limb over her head, and roared as she went for it, trying to firmly grab onto the water dragon's spine and get to work squeezing.

edited 28th May '17 9:42:51 PM by Taco