Mistralian Royal Battleship Longmen
Jaipur, Pandu
- - -
Ensign Jiang Zhu had had many misgivings since their captain, Sun Shanyuan, had returned from leave. She'd been irritable, secretive, and condescending. Far removed from the almost motherly presence that had helped the trainees grow as sailors she'd almost always been.
At first, he had just assumed it was due to the worsening political situation. There were three major factions in the Kingdom of Mistral: The Yellow Dragons, the Red Dragons, and the Green Dragons. The Yellow advocated a return to a rule under religious principles, though a large number of their contingent also counted the old Temujin Khans from the neighboring lands as truly righteous rulers-Despite the fact they conquered Mistral long ago and ruled as Emperors. The Red Dragons, influenced by Argus and the other Hellenic League lands to the west, wanted to become even more meritocratic and democratic-Though always under their auspices and control. The Green Dragons, the most conservative, wanted to return to the days when Mistral was ruled under its own original cultural identity and ideals: An Emperor with a massive court and bureaucratic system arranged with said Emperor the ultimate symbol of rule under divine right.
Civil unrest between the factions had been a way of life for Mistral for centuries, but their feuds had seldom reached the level of potential civil war. At least not until now. Yet this alone could not be the only explanation for Captain Sun's behavior.
Her orders had grown more confusing by the day. She'd ordered live ammunition loads into the missiles, and their tracking systems disabled. When her XO Xiong Fan had pressed her, even lightly, she'd dismissed him and made Jiang Zhu her acting XO.
They had launched secretly that afternoon, and while they had dispatched a flight plan, Zhu knew that they were nowhere near where they were supposed to be.
Any further protests had died when Sun had brought up some Imperial Marines in full body armor and face concealing helmets.
What is going on? Zhu thought to himself as he checked their course on the holoplot. The bridge of the Longmen was based heavily on Atlasian technology, with clean lines and simple architecture. The large almost panoramic bridge windows gave them a clear view of the prow of the vessel, and the distant lights of a city through the Deva Pass. Why are we near Jaipur?
A training mission in this old battleship might take them here, but why not inform the crew? They were a training vessel, a top secret mission wasn't something they would be sent on!
"Ensign, report," Captain Sun ordered as she sat in her chair near the plotting table. Zhu cleared his throat and tried to keep his nerves down.
"We have reached Checkpoint A, Ma'am. We appear to be near-"
"I am aware of where we are, Ensign," Sun stated firmly, her eyes like daggers. "Firing Control? Give me targets."
Zhu's eyes widened. The fire control officer Laohou was also new, and prowled along the consoles behind the nervous trainees like a tiger. He looked up with a scowl.
"Targets established," he stated.
The holoplot brought them up. Over a dozen red bullseyes on several buildings in Jaipur. Including the main gates. Zhu's jaw dropped.
"Mister Jiang," Sun stated, "Are we tracking the targets properly?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Prepare to fire missiles."
Zhu again cleared his throat.
"Captain... Captain, these are civilian targets-"
"I am aware of what kind of targets these are, Ensign," Sun said acidly, "Are we tracking properly?"
"Y-Yes Ma'am, but-But why-?"
"We have our orders, Ensign," Sun stated coldly, "Are you incapable of carrying them out?"
The ensign shook his head.
"N-No, but this is-"
"War is upon us, Ensign," Sun stated firmly, "War is upon all of Mistral. Our superiors ordered us to be here, and to launch an attack. We do not have the right to question them."
"Pandu is-is not at war with us, Captain," Zhu tried, "Not the last I heard! We're a training ship, why are we-?"
Two of the armored Marines moved up towards him. One held his rifle up in menace. Zhu gulped.
"I believe I gave you an order, Ensign," Sun said, cold and hard as Atlaesian steel, "Are you unable to carry it out?"
Zhu's heart pounded in his ears. He stared down at the plot. He had been in training to remain objective, to not give into emotion and to disconnect himself from the realities of his mission. A mission that would involve killing people, no matter how distantly.
He stared at the holographic outlines of the buildings. He knew they would be filled with people. Hordes of innocent people who had no idea what was coming.
He knew there were tensions between the factions in Mistral, who didn't? Yet this... How could anyone benefit from this?
"I..."
"Ensign," Sun growled, "Give the order."
Sun looked down at the plot. He looked over at the thuggish fire control officer. He looked at the Marines. His hands shook.
"I... I can't-!"
The butt of a marine's rifle met his face, and he went down. Sun shook her head.
"Very well. If you cannot carry out my orders? You're worthless to me." She walked up to the plot and turned to the fire control officer as the Marines beat Zhu with their rifle butts.
"Mister Laohou? Fire!"
"Fire!" Laohou growled. The other trainees looked as scared as Zhu... But complied. A volley of missiles burst from the old battleship's launchers, and streaked through the valley towards Jaipur. Zhu cried out, but was silenced by a boot to his mouth.
"Tie him up, keep him here," Sun ordered. Zhu felt binders placed on his wrists as Sun looked to Laohou. "Effect?"
Laohou studied the plot.
"We've hit 90 percent of them. They are activating air defense radar but don't have many. Their anti-air defenses have been destroyed along with the other key targets."
"Good. Prepare second wave."
It took about ten minutes to reload everything. During this time, Zhu was gagged and then dragged to a chair near the edge of the bridge. He was tied to it and gagged. He shook his head and whimpered in protest, but the other trainees just kept going along with it.
No! No, this is wrong! STOP THIS!"
"Second wave ready," Laohou reported.
Sun nodded.
"FIRE!"
Another volley of missiles streaked through the night. Zhu could only watch in horror as the missiles flew straight and true as arrows.
No, no... Please... Someone... Stop this... Please...!
Multiple bursts of white light filled the air, like fireworks. Laohou scowled as Sun looked confused.
"What? What happened? We lost the tracks!"
"The missiles were intercepted this time," a sensor operator reported, "We've got a source... An Aura beam of some kind..."
"Bring up the image!" Sun ordered and a holowindow appeared of a bright figure on top of a golden tower. "Magnify and enhance!"
A tanned Pandavan woman in white and red, with scarlet hair and golden eyes, stood before them with a determined look on her face. Her staff glowed with power. Sun smirked.
"I see. The Queen is here," she stated, "Good. Close to gunnery range. She can't intercept those."
"MMPH!" Zhu screamed through his gag. "MMPH! MMMNGH!"
"Closing," Louhao reported as he loomed over the nervous flight controller, "We should-"
A radar alert went off. A new icon appeared on the holoplot.
"New contact, closing fast!" The sensor operator cried. "Look like a Tigertail, military model-!"
The small but sleek airship buzzed the bridge, then climbed for altitude. Sun growled.
"How the hell did it get this close-No matter! Engage it!"
Automated gun batteries opened fire on the Tigertail, which deftly evaded the tracers like the dragonfly that was its namesake. It dove and looped around, flying in front of the Longmen and keeping it from launching more attacks. Zhu couldn't help but be awed by the courage and skill of the pilot.
Yet it wasn't going to last long. They just needed one hit and it would-
The lights went out and the bridge was plunged into darkness. Red Icons flashed on the holoplot. Louhao growled sounding like a feral cat.
"Intruder alert. Power's been cut to the bridge and primary controls."
"Switch to backups!" Sun ordered, slamming a holo data drive into the table, "We have to-!"
The doors to the bridge opened.
"OPEN FIRE!" Sun bellowed, pulling her sidearm. The Imperial Marines turned and opened fire, the machine gun blasts deafening. Four of the Marines fell instantly, and even in the darkness Zhu could make out arrows sticking out of their chest plates.
"FIRE! FIRE!" Sun shouted over the din. Smoke bombs went off, filling the bridge with dark clouds. Zhu coughed through his gag and just barely made out a dark figure dashing through the smoke, striking down enemies one by one. Laohou dashed out of the smoke, panicked, and reached for Zhu-
"URK!"
A pointed mace attached to a rope flew out like a lasso and wrapped around his ankles. The fire control officer fell flat on the desk, and yelped as he was yanked back into the melee.
The bridge lights went back on and the windows opened. The smoke was sucked out. Zhu saw the same dark figure walk towards him.
He was tall, and covered head to toe in dark blue and white body armor underneath a dark blue cloak and hood. His eyes blazed blue, his face was concealed by a balaclava. A bow with a quiver of arrows hung behind him, and a short curved sword and mace with rope hung from his belt.
"Stay calm," the man spoke quietly, quickly cutting him free with the short sword, "I need your help."
"Wha-But-" Zhu tried, but the man lifted him up and carried him to the holoplot. Sun and Laohou laid in a pile, as did most of the rest of the bridge crew. Others had hit the floor, their arms up behind their heads in surrender. What drew most of Zhu's attention though was the holoplot. His eyes widened.
"SELF DESTRUCT ENGAGED," it said, red warnings appearing everywhere. The engines of the old battleship were roaring, and the city of Jaipur was getting bigger, fast, in the bridge viewports.
"How do I stop it?" The masked man growled. Zhu shook his head.
"Stop-It shouldn't be engaged! Only the captain can-!"
Sun grinned up at them... Or rather, what had been Sun. Purple tentacles formed hair around her hair, twisting and squirming while changing patterns.
"Too late for you, King, too late!" 'Sun' wheezed. "You can't stop it now!"
She bit down on something in her teeth. The masked man grabbed Zhu and leaped away, just before a bomb went off. The windows of the bridge were blown out and the entire structure erupted into flames. Zhu stared in horror as he heard the cries of his crewmates in the inferno.
"No... No... Why...?!"
"We can't do anything for them right now," the man stated firmly, "Give me a way to turn this thing! Quickly! Or thousands will die!"
Zhu stared at the bright lights of the city of Jaipur. He stared at the man.
"Th-The main engines are locked into flank! You-You couldn't stop them unless you could-Could destroy half the engines and make it turn!" He cried.
The man nodded, and hefted Zhu up to his feet.
"Then that's what I'll do. Get anyone remaining evacuated. I'll handle this!"
"You?!" Zhu gasped. "Who are you?"
The man smirked behind his mask.
"Before I was King of Pandu... I was the king of Archers. Now go!"
- - -
The Mistralian man turned and ran, re-entering the ship through a hatch, as Arjun dashed aft. He leaped over the still firing anti-aircraft batteries, Karna still piloting the Tigertail to perfection to draw their automated fire.
He should have packed missiles on this trip for their aircraft. Ugh. That's what he got for forgetting boyhood lessons: Be prepared.
Well, he was prepared... Just not as well as he had hoped. Still, when it came to risking himself versus risking a city? Arjun knew which he would choose.
He made it to the aft deck overlooking the twin engine pods. He readied his bow and notched an arrow-A special arrow. One passed down through the ages of the Sarkaran family, along with their legendary bows. He focused as much Aura as he could into this weapon, and its warhead began to glow ominiously.
"Brahmastra," he said to the arrow, "You have always flown straight and true for my ancestors, and I have always recovered you. You saved our nation before... Do so again. Now... FLY!"
He released the arrow, and guided it with his Aura. It wobbled just a bit through the jetstream... But thanks to the particulars of air currents around large Dust-powered jet engines and Arjun's skill, it found an eye of calm to fly through...
Right into the main engine fuel pump. It exploded with a deafening noise, and the main engines on the port side sputtered. The impact knocked Arjun off the deck. He fell for the ground, and pulled the last of his arrows out. He targeted the still burning port engines, channeled his Aura... And let them loose.
The volley didn't hit as hard as the Brahmastra... But with the engines dying? They didn't need to. The Burn Dust ignited and spread fires all across the engine pod, causing secondary explosions. The whole bulk of the battleship began to turn, as lifeboats launched and people with parachutes leaped to safety. Arjun grit his teeth as he fell.
It would be a good death... Good enough... Saia... Friends... Abhimanyu... Maia... Karna-
Only to feel metal hull against his back as he landed hard. He got up and balanced on the top of the Tigertail. His earbud crackled.
"You need to stop falling out of airships so dramatically, brother."
"I knew you'd catch me," Arjun said as he stared anxiously at the battleship. It was still screaming towards Jaipur, but turning... Slowly... So slowly...
He could see it approaching the Golden Cental Plaza Tower. He prayed it would miss... Prayed that Saia had evacuated with everyone else... Prayed...
The burning wreck just barely grazed the tower... And flew off, more explosions tearing it apart. It lost altitude, before crashing into the bay with a massive splash and thunderous final explosion. Arjun let out the breath he was holding.
"Arjun? This is Saia, are you all right?" His wife called out over the radio.
Arjun nodded, even though she couldn't see it. He tapped his earbud.
"I'm all right. You?"
"I'm all right," she said, "I thought about taking more shots at it, but I didn't want to risk it blowing up over the city."
"Good call as always," Arjun sighed. "Right... Let's get the ministers on the line. Alert the Council. Have the security forces take the Mistralian crew into custody-Gently! And get me any intel on Vale! We need to know what the hell has been going on."
"Nothing good, that's for sure," Karna deadpanned, as they flew back towards the city.
That's an understatement for the ages, Arjun thought.
- - -