Editing City Series:Volume6c Prologue (section)

===Part 1===

The pale clouds spread out like a flat ocean below and the moon was visible dead ahead.

The sky was a dark blue and nothing obstructed it above the clouds bathed in the moonlight.

Several giant shapes were moving south above that sea of clouds.

Each of them was a ship approximately 100 yards long and a river of bombers and spy planes followed along a few miles away.

This was one of the Allies’ Experimental Aerial Divisions, commonly known as the Moonlight Resistant Aerial Division.

The UK had begun experimenting with these ships in 1941 and they now used them nightly to bomb German-controlled regions or the German mainland.

They could only do light damage with only around 100 ships and aircraft, but the repeated bombings worked to lower enemy morale.

The flagship flying in the lead of the Moonlight Resistant Aerial Division was a light aerial cruiser with the markings of the Royal Air Force on the side. The lights on the bridge sent signals to the four other ships and the many bombers following it.

“Any sign of hostiles?”

That question sounded in an unusually quiet bridge.

The 8-yard room was lit only by the moonlight and the instruments. It was enclosed by blast-resistant windows on three sides and the liaison officer, helmsman, communications officer, and the other dozen or so members of the bridge crew had turned from their instruments to view the captain’s chair in the back.

The skinny, gray-haired commander in that chair wore a flight suit instead of an RAF uniform. The same was true of the entire bridge crew looking his way.

The commander lightly rapped the side table next to his seat.

“It’s downright creepy. We entered their homeland and sent down our escort craft, but they still haven’t responded. An aerial division of 5 ships and a bombing unit has passed above their Dutch air defense line and is approaching Cologne in the German mainland.”

The elderly first officer seated next to him nodded and replied.

“For about a year, not one of the moonlight resistant ships or spy planes we sent to Cologne on recon or bombing missions has returned. That is why our entire division was sent in to forcibly reconnoiter while prepared to tear apart the very terrain with our bombs if need be.”

The first officer hesitated a moment before looking around.

When his gaze reached them, everyone on the bridge quickly looked back to their instruments.

“Do not let your guard down, everyone,” said the commander. “We have no idea what we will encounter out here.”

They all nodded and the usual bustle of activity returned to the bridge.

The first officer paused to listen to the high altitude wind and then spoke quietly.

“Have you heard the stories of the Lorelei, a type of Siren that causes shipwrecks, Captain?”

“I thought that was a bunch of bunk. Didn’t some poets just rewrite the legend of the witch Lore Lay?”

“The aerial division that went missing a month ago apparently sent back a final communique that only said ‘the dragon’s song’. The dragon and the lion are symbols of the Geheimnis Agency, that top secret organization that we have yet to find solid evidence of.” The first officer faced forward. “But according to information from the IAF who everyone’s been talking about lately, the Geheimnis Agency has constructed a giant aerial warship equipped with a Babel Cannon in the Cologne region. It’s meant to be a solid defense positioned at the entrance to their homeland.”

“I saw the photo they sent. And I snorted in laughter, assuming the generals were pulling my leg. I mean, an aerial ship more than half a mile long is absurd. Same with a ship carrying a giant cannon on its back. Do you really think something like that can fly? Just turning – no, just ascending would tear the ship apart with its own inertial weight.”

“…”

“Besides, a ship that big could never shoot down aircraft as fast as our spy planes. All they have are grounded tanks, outdated fighters they’ve rushed upgrades for, and those Heavy Barrels that are entirely useless in modern warfare.”

“Then…?”

“Yes, I know. You want to know why no one has returned from the Cologne region, right?”

“I do. Cologne is the western entrance to Germany, so I know they will have fortified their defensive line there, but still.”

“We are here to solve that very mystery. Because we boast the best speeds of all the experimental divisions.”

The commander leaned back in his seat and looked out head.

The bridge was beginning to heat up as the previous silence faded away. Everyone was working hard to command the engine room and to coordinate with the other ships and the bombing unit. People were moving and speaking across the dark bridge.

But past them and out the window, the sea of clouds was entirely still.

Just as the commander stared at the clouds flowing by below, an operator spoke up.

“Report! Reading detected down below at a point 20 miles from Cologne!”

The commander turned toward the operator, eyebrows raised.

“How many ships!?”

“No, um…these appear to be smaller crafts…moving fast. There are three…no, four! Moving very fast!”

“They must be hostile!” barked the commander. “We wouldn’t encounter friendlies here!”

The operator operated the radar and the projector on the floor projected the radar display on the gray ceiling. The circular display covered a 3 yard radius on the ceiling and a single dot of light was approaching from the front of the display. They were both flying toward each other, so it was rapidly closing on the center of the display.

“They must be small indeed,” said the first officer. “Their readings are almost entirely overlapped. Are they a new kind of patrol craft?”

“Too fast for that. Formations of four is standard practice for them, but what do they hope to accomplish with just four fighter craft?”

A few seconds passed and the commander made a decision.

“We should assume a threat. All ships, form a single column. Use the radar to track their distance. At a range of 5 miles, ships 1, 2, and 3 will fire secondary cannons and pseudo dragon cannons once they have a lock. At a range of 2 miles, ships 1, 2, and 3 will launch exterior homing rounds. If they break through that, all ships may fire at will until the hostiles have withdrawn or been shot down. Hurry.”

He sent the transmission.

The dot on the radar display approached.

After the span of a heartbeat, a quiet alarm began to sound from the controls in front of the operator. The weapons officer took over the radio and ordered the gunners to fire.

The secondary cannons and pseudo dragon cannons installed on the bottom of the ship opened fire.

The cannons roared.

The lines of fire tore shallowly through the clouds as they traveled diagonally down.

After precisely 3 seconds, they used the radar to monitor the enemy’s movements and fired a second volley.

The third volley was fired after a manual adjustment to the enemy’s predicted location after the first and second volleys.

Once, twice, and thrice, beams of light stretched out, blew away the clouds, and then swung a bit to expand the attack range.

Similar whiplike bands of light flew from the port and starboard of the next two ships behind theirs.

Light shined on the radar display on the bridge ceiling. Their radar could also detect ether readings, so the paths of the pseudo dragon cannons were displayed as pale flashes. The long bands of destructive light vanished after only a few seconds.

“The hostile reading…has been eliminated.”

The operator’s report was supported by the lack of light on the ceiling display.

Sighs of relief were breathed across the bridge.

But that relief was short lived.

The commander first sensed a noise.

The bridge protected by thick, high-altitude glass groaned like it had been hit by a great mass of metal.

An impact caused the entire bridge – no, the entire 30-thousand-ton-displacement flagship – to shake vertically.

“!?”

The entire bridge crew managed to maintain their posts throughout the shaking, but their expressions had changed.

They were worried. And the change in the view outside the window did not help matters.

To the right and the left, the clouds had been split all the way to the horizon, almost like that crashing noise had caused it. This formed two valleys kicking up white waves.

Something had passed right by the flagship at dizzying speed.

The mist formed by the torn clouds blocked the view ahead of the still-shaking bridge.

“What was that?” The commander clenched his teeth when he found the answer. “That was supersonic acceleration! We have hostiles nearby. They were waiting for us to fire so they could fly in, hiding behind our pseudo dragon cannons! The hostiles are not after our bomber unit!”

“Tell all ships to stay close together and keep up an exterior barrage!” shouted the first officer. “Hurry!”

But it was too late. Low metallic sounds reached them through the bridge’s rear wall.

Something was firing repeatedly, their shots tearing apart the high-altitude wind loudly enough to be heard inside the bridge.

“Is that the hostiles?”

The commander looked back to see something in the night sky visible outside of the bridge’s port side window.

He saw a blue Heavy Barrel. The six wings on its back meant its Over Emblem was fully activated, allowing it to match the high-speed ship’s velocity. It used both arms to hold and fire an autocannon longer than it was tall.

The moonlight glinted off the empty cartridges scattering through the sky. It was likely firing 88mm steel bullets. Those high-speed bullets packed a punch and could even destroy armor panels on impact.

The recoil caused the Barrel to shake violently, but it used its wings to fly a helix pattern that allowed the force to safely escape.

Once done firing, the blue Heavy Barrel gave the weapon a swing.

The barrel detached and fell toward the clouds.

It pulled a new barrel from the hips of its combat dress while dull sounds rumbled from behind the bridge. It was the heavy noise of something pushing at the air. The tremor sounded like a crashing waterfall and it would not stop.

The commander knew what this was. The ship behind them was sinking after taking all that gunfire. As it tilted, its air resistance increased and the pushing of the air grew louder. The deep rumble was gradually growing more distant behind them.

The flagship and the rest began to return fire. They fired homing rounds and pseudo dragon cannons at the blue Heavy Barrel.

But something stopped them.

While the blue Heavy Barrel leisurely attached the new autocannon barrel, a red Heavy Barrel with a massive shield cut in between using Over Emblem wings.

The homing rounds and pseudo dragon cannon blasts crashed into the red one’s shield.

“Did we shoot it down?”

They had not.

The shield glowed bright red with heat, but it remained intact. White smoke erupted from the bottom of the shield and it regained its original metallic coloration.

Should they fire a second volley or not?

While the commander hesitated, a light appeared outside the starboard window. It was a dark red light flickering with heat.

He turned toward it.

The second ship that had been positioned diagonally back and to starboard had overtaken them while spewing flames for some reason.

The top of the high-altitude destroyer was now perfectly flat, like it had been shaved down with a woodworking plane. Black smoke and flames erupted from the torn and smashed areas as it overtook the flagship.

The commander saw a large white figure standing atop its deck.

It was a giant male Heavy Barrel with six wings.

It carried no projectile weapons and instead carried a single sword. Unlike the red and blue ones flying to port, this one had not even activated its Over Emblem.

“–––!?”

The wordless scream inside the bridge was questioning the events playing out before their eyes.

It wanted to know if this was actually real.

The answer was right there. The flagship and the other ships fired from their starboard sides, as if attempting to further destroy the sinking second ship. The repeated roaring of artillery fire was directed at the white Heavy Barrel standing atop the second ship.

It could never avoid the incoming barrage. No Heavy Barrel could fly without an Over Emblem, nor could it defend an attack like this without a shield. And yet…

<The Emperor follows the path of the conqueror.>

The white Heavy Barrel suddenly slid across the deck. It broke through the explosive flames and twirled its body to slip between the incoming bullets. Its legs remained motionless as it soared through the air.

It moved slowly but spun quickly to avoid the entire barrage. And…

“Ah.”

It produced a single note.

The commander saw its sword emit bright light.

That was followed by the deep sound of splitting air. The white slash had sliced the second ship in two. As the ship sank into the clouds, the white Heavy Barrel flapped its wings to fly up into the sky.

“What?” the commander muttered as he watched. “Is this what they meant by the lions gathering below the dragon?” he asked his first officer.

He was answered in a different way. He heard some Words. Just like the ones uttered by the white Heavy Barrel, these Words rang in his head whether he wanted them to or not.

And these used a girl’s voice.

<The Requiem rings out on the bells.>

It was a calm voice of suppressed emotion.

The commander shouted on reflex, fastening his seatbelt as he did.

“Evasive action! Ships 4 and 5, bomber unit, ascend! Ascend until you reach maximum moonlight resistance altitude!”

The ship shook as it tried to take an ascending course.

But light suddenly filled the bridge. This was not a flare or a dragon cannon. It was a blinding ocean of light that erased all shadows, like light had exploded right in front of them. It was a powerful attack.

“!?”

Before the commander could question it, something slammed into the bottom of the ship.

Those on the bridge who had not fastened their seatbelts were launched from their seats, crashing into the walls, floor, or ceiling. The screams of shattering glass and of people shook the air, but the powerful inertial shaking did not stop.

The ultra-massive ship’s rear lifted up and it very nearly flipped forward. The light vanished and the forward-tilted bridge shook as its structural components cried out in protest. All the lights had gone out and the instruments ceased functioning.

“Do they really have a Babel Cannon!?”

The ship slid forward as it attempted to reorient itself.

The captain saw something there as his vision straightened out.

The flat expanse of cloud was entirely gone.