Out of Space

In barely a few hours, banners, flags and pendants taken from the lockers of the UNS Vengeance were in full display all around the hidden cove. As the sun slowly set down over the horizon, a huge bonfire was lit on the beach where the high spirited crew and soldiers of the UN celebrated their victory. The people of the Banish joined in the celebrations shyly except for the laughing children who ran around the beach with sticks of skewered meat and potatoes.

Blue Thunder happily shoved a barrel full of cheese covered potatoes into his mouth and licked the barrel clean. The call for celebration had the cooks in the ship's galley break out the rations and he finally had the fill of his favourite food. At the same, Rastraz eyed Saphia warily as she played with the twins, feeding them potatoes.

The twins happily attacked the boiled potatoes with cheese, making smacking noises like their father as they fed themselves silly. Blue Thunder giggled as he watched his children enjoy the food as much as he had. He suddenly stopped in his laughter as he watched the twins demolish at least half the barrel of cheese potatoes by themselves.

"Oh... I think the twins will eat me poor..." Blue Thunder moaned in horror. "How am I going to feed two little monsters with appetites like this?!"

"Don't look at me!" Rastraz stuck her tongue out at Blue Thunder. "Aren't you some high ranking commander with the Air Force?"

Listening to dragons' quibbles brought a blissful smile to Sherene face as she leaned against Blake. Their child Coa was ogling at the dragon twins, wanting to play with them but was also mesmerised by the giant bonfire and dancing people. Countless crew members and soldiers came over to toast both Blake, Sherene and even the dragons.

The flickering shadows of people dancing, drinks and loud music went on deep into the night and the celebrating people's worries and woes temporarily disappeared.

-----

The Old World, Domain of the Dragons

The once pristine white frozen landscape was now covered in smoke and flames. Twisted wreckage and bodies both humanoid and draconic covered the frozen lands. Soldiers in white grey smocks and mirror like shields held against a wave of crimson coated soldiers while overhead in the skies, a massive aerial battle was underway.

Drakes, the lesser cousins of true dragons, twist and turned in the skies, weaving an elaborate dance of death as they swarmed an out of formation Protectorate cruiser. Armoured in overlapping white grey tones of lacquered lamellar leather to protect their vulnerable underbellies and almost similar in looks to a Terran Japanese samurai's armour, the Dragon Lords' drakes slowed down enough to squeeze through the deployed magical barriers of the stricken airship without turning into bloody pancakes.

Landing on the decks of the Protectorate airship, the drakes and their single rider started to wreak havoc upon the airship. Unlike true dragons, drakes do not have a separate wing shoulder, their wings and forelimbs were connected as one. Specially tempered claw sheaths were worn by the drakes, arming them with a weapon capable of rendering metal.

The drake riders commanded their rides to rip the hull of the airship up, tearing holes which the riders then tossed flasks of alchemical fire into the interiors, setting explosions and fire to the ship. Protectorate soldiers rushed out to the top decks and attempted to fight off the drakes. Despite their best efforts, the number of drakes swarming the airship was too many until it prompt the Protectorate's commander to order his fleet to fire upon the hopeless cruiser.

Sensing the intention of the fleet, the captain of the doomed cruiser let out a cry of "JUSTICE SHALL PREVAIL!" before ordering the magical barriers down. Dozens of steam projectiles hammered the cruiser, blowing away the drakes clinging to the sides of the hull and with a wrenching scream of metal, the Protectorate cruiser broke into two, the wreckage trailing blue grey smoke as it dropped to the snow below.

The drakes scattered as the ship died, those fortunate enough to avoid the volley of projectiles from the Protectorate fleet, leapt off into the skies and reformed up for another attack on the enemy. As the drakes continued their harassment of the Protectorate fleet, the skeletal airships of the Dragon Lords appeared.

Built from the ancestral bones of true dragons, the airships of the dragons were fast and nimble. As magic flowed easier through the dragon bone structure of the airships, it reduced the cost of using magical crystals to power anything magic. Nestled between the dozens of dragon ships, were three long coffin like vessels.

As the airships shook into formation, the three coffin airships had long arms deployed out from its side, turning into a massive flying crossbow. The nose of the flying crossbow, swung open, revealing a massive bolt, over fifty metres long and four meters across. A dull pointed metal sheath covered the bolt and the bowstring made out from the tendons of past dragons were strummed back by gears powered by hundreds of crew.

The creaking of the dragon bow ships could be heard even over the din of the battle and for a moment, the battle both air and land paused as eyes turned to look at the flying crossbows. The other dragon ships at the same time, powered up their ship spells, creating multiple halos of magical circles to appear in the air before them.

The dragon in command of the aerial battle was an aged being, over a hundred and seventy years of age. His whiskers and horns had turned white, while his once vibrant golden scales had turned a yellow brown hue. He perched upon a dragon sized cushion on the deck of a dragon ship serving as his flagship. The bones of the flagship came from his ancestors and once he passed, his bones would too be used to serve the Domain of the Dragons for eternity.

"Report! Lord Koldort!" A soldier bowed and reported. "The dragon bow ships are armed and awaiting your commands!"

Lord Koldort nodded his serpentine head and commanded, "Destroy the invaders!"

"Yes, my lord!" The soldier bowed once more and the order was passed down. On the communication towers of the flagship, the large fluttering red flags snapped down and a brief second later, four loud 'TWANG' resounded across the skies as the bolts were released. Following behind those bolts, streaks of magic from fireballs to magic missiles were launched from the rest of the dragon ships.

The opening volley slammed into the Protectorate charging forward to get into their own weapons' range. The bolts easily shattered the magical barriers of the first ship they encountered before punching through the hull and continuing on, leaving behind a trail of destruction. One of the bolts even penetrated two ships at once, sending both drifting lifeless in the air. Another bolt remained buried deep inside the target it had struck, forcing the airship to sink towards the ground as its aetherium tanks were ruptured.

Across the face of the Protectorate fleet, bright flashes of magic shrouded the ships as the slower flying spells arrived and impacted against their magical defences. As the distance between the two fleets closed up, the frenzy of magic explosions increased. Finally, after the fifth spell volley, the dragon ships ceased their magic bombardment and switched to traditional weapons.

Steam cannons and ballistae poked out from their enclosures and released their loads once the order came down. The dragon bow ship reminded at the rear with a small fleet of escorts while the dragon ships using their superior speed and manoeuvrability swooped in and out of the battle, their projectiles aiming for any weakness in the enemy formation.

Lord Koldort observed both the battle in the skies and on the ground with a frown. The Dragon Lords had received word of an invasion into the Iron Kingdom by the Protectorate, which shortly after the Cartel were attacked as well. They had quickly brought their troops into readiness when a massive invasion force from the Protectorate arrived in their western borders.

With the harsh frozen lands as a buffer, the Protectorate generally would avoid attacked through those lands as it would greatly hamper their logistics and there was generally nothing in those lands. Usually, they would attack through the Lochfield causeway, which was a lot easier for the Protectorate logistic line and there were towns and cities that could be captured.

But surprisingly, the Protectorate sought a round way through the frozen lands in a direct attack at the home of the Dragon Lords! Thankfully, there were many scattered homesteads of hunters living in frozen lands, making a living from hunting wild game and selling their meat and skins. The hardy hunters quickly reported the invasion force by trekking through heavy snow to the nearest outpost and very soon, the report reached the Dragon Lords.

Lord Koldort quickly volunteered to lead the troops against the Protectorate and two days later, his forces intercepted the enemy just a day's distance from the capital. On his arrival, a bitter battle had already been raging on for over a day at the small outpost city of Frosthelm. With a population of over thirty thousand, the outpost city built into the insides of a hill to preserve heat, served as a vital trade centre for the surrounding homestead and merchants, trading in furs, meat, ore and other necessities.

The city also served as a garrison for troops and airships and when Lord Koldort arrived with his ships, the battle was well underway. The Protectorate airships, unable to bombard the city covered under thick mounds of snow, had deployed their ground troops to capture this city as it would serve as a vital logistic hub for the Protectorate forces.

Soldiers of the Dragon Lords wore armour reminisce Terran's Japanese samurais, in tones of white and grey, allowing them to blend in with the snow. Their sloping helmets helped block snowfall and the tiny eye slits prevent snow blindness. They wield long spears and shields polished to a mirror like surface, allowing them to blind their enemies with the reflection of the sun, giving them a superior home ground advantage against the Protectorate's Paladins.

The glare of the mirror shields forces the ground invasion to a halt, forcing the Protectorate ground commanders to send in their War Jacks. But the terrain of the frozen lands, bogged the War Jacks down, allowing the protected steam cannons and ballistae easy targets to shoot at. With the arrival of Lord Koldort's fleet, the morale of the defenders went up and they fought even fiercer to defend their homes.

Once the ground battle had been halted, Lord Koldort turned his attention back to the aerial combat. His ships had depleted half of their magic reserves in the opening stage of the battle and any dragon ship suffering heavy damages were given orders to retreat. Unless a dragon ship suffered critical damages to their propulsion wings or boilers, they could still easily outfly any heavy lumbering cruiser of the Protectorate.

Despite his smaller numbers, compared to the Protectorate fleet, he was very certain this battle would be in his favour. His four bow ships were already recharging and while each ship could only carry eight ship killer bolts in their holds, it was enough to turn the tide of the battle.

The only downside to this battle was the number of drakes being sacrificed. While they were not true dragons and have a mind of a beast, they still bore the blood of true dragons in them. Lord Koldort let out a soft sigh as his superior dragon sight witnessed a flock of drakes dying under a vicious barrage of steam fire.

Just as he was sighing over the meaningless deaths of his lesser cousins, his eye spotted something over the horizon. A thin line appeared and slowly grew, turning from a line to a wall of dots. Under his superior dragon sight, he paled under his scales as his eyes picked up the individual dots as airships.

Crimson coloured airships.