***Tirnanog, Aerie Flagship***
***Magnus***
“What managed to get that sour expression onto your face?” Astra asked as soon as I entered the bridge and made my way over to her. She was standing with her parents and other elders at one of the planning tables, where they were briefed on the situation.
One table further I found the matriarch with her entire entourage of trusted people. Jeng’s leadership was also present and as the icing on the cake, I recognized some Caravaners like Seeker Holly and Luka mixed in among the crowd. On a second glance, I also found Gunnar and Jakob as representatives of the Organisation among them.
It seemed like everyone who had something to say was present.
“Nothing much,” I replied once I returned my attention to Astra. “Just met Ivonne and Hector on the way here. They managed to join the club, so to speak. I just hope Iv doesn’t get herself killed.”
Astra clicked her tongue. “I imagine you didn’t like that. Did you blow up in front of her?”
“No,” I grumbled.
Astra looked briefly surprised before she smiled and unexpectedly hugged me. “I am so proud of you! Normally, I would have expected you to rip off Hector’s head for allowing your sister anywhere close to the conflict.”
“It’s alright, alright, alright!” I quickly tried to wrangle her off of me. Not that I disliked being hugged by Astra, but I felt uncomfortable with such a display right in front of so many high-ranking people.
Etan turned away from where he was talking with Mary. “I am not a fan of Iv’s pursuits, but she hopped through all the hoops. Keeping her at Mount Aerie would have been high-handed of us. Especially after she managed to get Hector on board with her search for her sister. At the very least I tasked them with protecting the Drake hangar. It should be one of the safest spots on the ship aside from the bridge.”
He hesitated for a moment. “And nothing against your sister. We have adopted her which was a big extension of trust, so I prefer she stays far away from any Thich military. You have already proven yourself more than enough, but the girl is untested. I don’t want there to be even the possibility of collaboration with the enemy. Mere suspicion or not. It doesn’t matter that Thalia vetted her.”
“Thanks.” I raised a hand, palm out, to stop him. “You don’t have to say anything more. I understand.”
Etan nodded.
There wasn’t much more to say, so I turned to the map. “Do we already know how this will be going down? I heard fairly little about how this fleet engagement will be handled.”
Except for the initial engagement at Jeng, I had been out cold for most of the airship battle thanks to a certain ancient.
Teresa shrugged. “I am afraid there is not much to tell. We have just received news from the scouting units. The Thich and Vier are not moving and massing their units above Raider’s valley. Everyone believes they are preparing a final battle with the intention to duke it out no matter the cost.”
I winced and replied in a questioning tone, “I hope we are not going to take them up on that. I am not certain how we match up to them, but the causality rate would be horrific in my estimation.”
It wasn’t like I cared about sacrificing a certain number of people for the greater good. I had given my blessing on such decisions in the past, but the clans had to survive the aftermath.
“Skye, Juliana, and the Matriarch worked out a plan,” Etan assured me. “At least they are giving out envelopes with orders for everyone. Orders are not to be opened until contact with the enemy is imminent. They want to keep the plan as secret as possible because they are still afraid of more psylings hiding among our ranks.”
“Though current orders say that should come anything through the UI chat, those orders overrule everything else,” Teresa added. “Be sure to monitor the central command chat. Only the two highest ranking individuals from each Clan should be allowed to post messages.”
“Which are?” I asked.
Teresa looked over to the other table. “It’s the elders Juliana and Skye for Aerie. Matriarch Vanya and her right hand Tianna for Hochberg. Jeng is represented by Ancient Felix and Paladin Ahmad Gentry. The Caravaners and your Organisation are pure support, so they abstained from having a command role.”
“The two of us are to stay here as long as we get no other orders,” Astra informed me. “I have already talked to the Skyes.”
“They still have some of those rockets!” was the only explanation we got from one of the adjutants.
I figured if the damage had been significant, they would have given a more detailed report. Thanks to the flagship’s size and taking Etan’s earlier explanation into account, a single hit wouldn’t bring us down.
Nonetheless, I couldn’t help but wonder how much damage the flagship could take before we had to give it up.
When the airship shuddered a second time, Juliana Skye gave a surprising order.
“Magnus, one of the enemy’s capital ships is trying to ram us. I need you to prevent that at all costs. Take out their engines!”
“Where?” I asked. Days prior, I had been briefed by Skye Rumen on the possibility of getting such a task. He had taken two hours to explain how best to sabotage airships and what to look for. Including a detailed explanation of what we knew about Thich airship construction.
“They are Two o’clock at a twenty-degree downward angle,” one of the adjutants informed me.
Not wasting any time, I ran out onto the observation platform and flash-stepped off the flagship. From the outside, the battle looked a bit more intense than the relative calm on the flagship’s command bridge suggested.
Our drake riders and Thich’s flying bat-things were out in great numbers and there were airships all around us, even if they were spaced out generously.
I oriented myself and found a huge, square-shaped ship headed for us, flanked by four smaller support ships. Thich’s box-like designs were distinctly different from Aerie’s flattened oval shapes.
Flash-stepping four more times while falling, I landed right on top of one of the ball-shaped flak cannon turrets belonging to one of the Thich support vessels that were flying in close formation with the capital ship.
The cannoneer had a second of watching up to me through the sight window before I reached through the glass and pulled him out, letting go as soon as he began sliding down the side of the hull. He disappeared with a scream.
“Excuse me, I need that.”
I swung myself into the seat and began pushing and pulling levers to find out what they were doing. It was all pretty intuitive and it took me maybe ten seconds to become comfortable with the machinery.
The cannon had a very complex sight to aim with. The four sliders on it were thankfully not needed. My target was about six hundred metres away and I figured a few wasted shots wouldn’t make any difference, so I pushed the device to the side.
Drawing in a sharp breath, I used my filaments to protect my ears and pressed the trigger.
The flak cannon began firing at a satisfying rate of two or three shots per second. My normal eyes couldn’t see the projectiles, but my Second Sight had no trouble informing me that the ammunition dropped below where I was aiming.
A small adjustment later, big holes began appearing in the engine compartments behind the capital ship’s main propellers.
I smiled and whistled a small tune while I counted to five in my head. Five seconds was kind of an arbitrary number, but I figured it would take at least eight seconds for some Thich gunner to rationalize why one of their ships was firing at them and take action.
But five seconds of having free reign with this kind of weapon turned out to be more than enough to rip open most of the visible engine compartments. Especially at this distance!
At five, I flash-stepped out through the crushed window and turned around while falling, only to see the support vessel’s side erupt with explosions as another ship began scouring away its flak turrets.
It had taken some quick-witted fellow only about six seconds to begin shooting at their comrades. Which meant I had cut it uncomfortably close.
“Okay, three seconds it is,” I promised myself as I chose my next target to repeat the game.