Clear Skies

The wind smashed against Rob’s goggles. The Rain was picking up speed. Rob stood on the ship's starboard side, overlooking a blue sky with mountains slowly surrounding them. Rob left the view and went to the bridge. The front of Rain had perfect look at high peaks, that were nearly hitting it. Helmsman Joriah was there, handling the wheel. With captain William standing beside him in a worn brown duster coat.

“Where’s the fleet supposed to meet us?” Rob asked.

“Just past this mountain range.”

“Do you think they’ll catch us.”

“I do.”

“I’ll go and check the gliders again, then.”

William stared forward, and Joriah contorted his face as they narrowly passed another mountain. Rob went down to the ship's old bay that was meant to carry food and goods, while it was sea based. That changed with steam power. The Rain fell under the trend of ‘updating’ ships with steam balloons, and propellers, instead of simple sails. The hull was no longer round and smooth, but modified to be more flat, so it could actually land on ground. Steel catwalks were added above the main deck, and had new top of the line gear guns. They only need someone to hold the trigger down before it would start to expand its bullet fed magazine. The magazines were given to each gunner; each magazine could hold fifty rounds, and each gunner could hold at least ten magazines on their belt.

The rotating, four barreled guns were a bit wild. They had not been rifled yet, due to their high demand. The older musket weapons were rifled, but took too long to reload. The most accurate gun they had aboard was a repeating rifle, that could fire six shots in almost straight succession, depending on how fast the user could cock the lever and hammer. That gun was held by Ven, who won it in a bet over who was a better mechanic. Ven was checking over the glider, as usual, with Norton.

The gliders was just a nickname of sorts. They had a dual prop propellor on the front that kept it in the air, but when it’s launched from the ship it glided more than flew. The gliders both had a gattling gun. They were placed on the outside bottom right, and left of the seat. The pilot's chair itself was positioned for the airman to be leaning forward, make them a smaller target, and they could easily reload the guns. The gun’s magazine was right at the hip of the pilot. The second mate, and another crew pilot were the ones that flew the gliders. Rob would have to be flying out with the crew pilot if things got sour, and he always made sure the gliders were working perfectly.
The gliders were lined one in front of the other, facing the front end of the ship. Ven was looking over the closest glider, with his rifle leaned up against it, while Norton was underneath its engine, tightening a couple bolts.
Rob went straight to the tank, and looked inside. It was almost full. The sweet and sour smell wafted to Rob’s nostrils. He grabbed a fuel can from the corner.

“Why are we flying so low, Rob?” Ven asked. “We can’t launch the gliders at this altitude.”

“The captain wants to lose them in the mountains. Can I fill it?” Rob asked.

“Ya,” Ven replied. “Norton isn’t doing anything related to the tank.”

Rob filled it almost over the brim. He screwed the cap back on, and set the can down.

“What’s wrong with it?” Rob asked.

“Nothin' really,” Norton said. “Just a few, ah, loose bolts.”

“It’s not yours, you know.” Ven said.

“I know.” Rob went to his glider in the front and filled up the tank to nearly full. He made sure nothing else was wrong with it, and then went back above deck. The crew started to scatter about. Rob looked off to the mountains again. The ship was climbing up into the clouds. He looked behind. Another airship was bearing on their rear. He took out his spyglass. It was Arichi design. Smooth, yet crude at the front. It was a nasty piece to ram.

Rob looked around their ship. Crewmen trudged to their guns, loading them up, and getting extra magazines. There were only three gatling guns on the front, and one flamecaster on the rear starboard, because the engines took too much room on the rear port side. The two gatling guns on the top steel deck could be turned to face starboard or port, but could not be turned all the way rear, and the flamecaster didn’t have enough range to fight a fully outfitted Arichi ship; with its mini-rockets and exploding shells. Rob looked at the ship again, to see if the Arichi’s had all of that flak. Another ship came alongside it, and then another. A battle group was after them.

“Rob!”

Rob turned around and was hit by Caroline. “What?” he said while holding her steady.

“Captain wants us to launch right as soon as we’re in the clouds.”

“What? Why? We won't be able to stay with the ship.”

“He wants us to surprise the creeps, once they start to chase us.”

“Do you think we should have signed with these creeps. It’s like we’re always on the wrong side.”

“Not now Rob. We have to go.”
They went down below, and got strapped in. Ven extended the glider’s tail to their flight positions. Caroline put a fur lined helmet over her soft brown hair. Rob fitted his own helmet that covered his naked face. Norton cocked back the glorified metal slingshot, while Ven opened up the front bay doors. The pilots started their engines. Norton shoved a square can of fuel into a compartment beneath the pilot’s seats. Ven went back and handed the pilots both a revolver, and a parachute pack.

“One more time Rob, and then we’ll talk,” She said.

“We’re in the clouds,” said the Captain through one of the numerous communication tubes flowing throughout the ship. “launch!” Norton pulled a lever releasing the slingshot.
Rob held onto his control stick as if his straps were about to break off. The runway was gone so quickly, Rob thought he was going to start going straight down before he released his glider’s wings, which popped out, and he was flying. He exhaled, and relaxed his grip on the steering. Once more. Rob thought.

Caroline was already passing overhead. He lost sight of her quickly. It was only a few seconds before he was out of the clouds, and watching the Rain fly away, with the Arichi’s in tow. Rob jumped, as

Caroline snuck up on him.

Rob could see her smile even from their distance apart. She flew in front of him and started to wave back and forth. Rob wished to tell her this wasn’t a game, but she would have ignored him anyway. They quickly came upon the Rain turning around to face the battle group. The Arichis were already pouring their flak at the Rain.

The Arichi ships were only outfitted for fighting other airships, and had no room for gliders. Rob wagered they had two runs before the Arichis could take them out of the sky. He took the lead. Caroline formed up. She hovered over Rob’s left shoulder. The ships of the battle group were off leveled. Rob and Caroline wouldn’t be able to do a straight run. They’d have to come in high, and dive, then climb, and bear right and up. Rob pulled back on the rod slightly. Caroline quickly adjusted to mimic Rob, and Rob pulled back harder. The climbed enough to just touch a cloud, then leveled out. The Rain had the height advantage on the battle group, and open fire. The yellow shots rained upon the battle group. The Arichi’s were undaunted by the fire. Their rockets exploded on the Rain’s hull. A few ropes were coming loose. The Rain’s hull had holes in it. The Rain was starting to loose altitude. Rob saw Ven shooting his carbine out of the broken hull.

Ven didn’t think he was hitting anything important. Only blowing off steam, and giving everyone a show. Norton had gone up to the main guns leaving him alone. Ven liked the shots of his own gun to much to let it be unused before he died.

Rob gunned forward, and dove on the Arichi’s. Bullets flooded on the exposed parts of the balloon, that the Arichi’s thought would be impossible to be hit by another airship. Rob and Caroline could almost touch the balloons, as they weaved through the airships. The Rain turned to port, exposing the flamecaster. While one ship sank from Rob and Caroline’s fire, another was set on ablaze. The center ship was still undamaged, and opened absolutely everything on the Rain. Joriah tried bringing the ship into a nearby cloud, but the Arichis managed to puncture the balloon. The Rain’s hull burst open from a rocket salvo. The upper deck was on fire. Rob and Caroline did another pass, to no avail.

The Arichi’s didn’t stop, and the Rain fell apart. The entire hull was shattered. The engines at the rear of the ship exploded. The steel decks were still attached to the balloon, and gradually fell to the mountain range floor. The battle group was in disarray, at least. The one with the tattered balloon was still falling slowly. The fires on the other were being frantically quenched, and the center ship turned on Rob and Caroline. They turned tail, and disappeared into the clouds. They could out run the airship, but could not last on their own. Rob flew in close to Caroline. Her eyes looked to be watering. She blinked them away before she thought Rob had seen them.

“We need to find the fleet!” Rob said. Caroline nodded. They flew out of sight of the Arichis. Rob filled his tank the second he thought it would fit. Rob could see the end of the mountains. Caroline flew closer to Rob. He scanned the horizon. An airship rolled out of the clouds. They must have heard the engines, or at least seen them somehow It slowly became visible as .the mist ran away from the ship. It had long fins on the front of the ship that jutted out like a lance, and formed a triangle to cut through the air. Rob pulled the stick back to gain altitude. The engine stuttered, and he instantly let go. He took off the fuel cap. There was next to nothing inside. Rob gripped the stick to try to stop his shaking. He went down. He might have heard Caroline scream “What are you doing”, but he didn’t listen. He only focused on landing. Whenever he came back into the Rain there was always the hook to catch his glider. The landing gear was light, and meant for an easy straight landing. Not a sudden, angled one. Rob had to come in low. A forest made that impossible. A small lane was in between the mountains and the trees, but it curved and bent suddenly at times. Rob looked back to the airship. It was now engaging the Arichis.

The rest of the fleet poured from the clouds. They opened fire. Seven airships nailed the Arichis with rockets, and more bullets with yellow tracers. Rob saw Caroline right behind him. He leveled his plane, and started to lower his altitude. The trees crept up on him. They took out part of his left wing. The glider started to waver. He touched down too hard. The wheels came out from under him. The glider flipped. Metal clashed and groaned. Foul fuel splashed across Rob’s chest, blotting out the burning grass behind him. He undid his seatbelt, and jumped from the glider. The plane slid into the ground and stopped it’s crater. Rob gripped his ankle. He must have strained it as he jumped. His right elbow had to be fractured from bracing himself against the crash. Caroline smashed into the ground a little more gracefully. She ran up to him.

“Why didn’t you jump sooner,” She said while putting his head onto her legs.

“You know we can’t aim the parachutes. I didn’t want to get stuck in a tree, in the middle of nowhere.” Rob saw blood coming from her left forearm. Then he looked to two fleets now engaged in battle. Gliders stormed other ships and other gliders. Crashing into airships as a final effort to wound each other on their damaged ships. He looked to Caroline over him with a tear now rolling down her red cheek.

“Quite the mess we’ve gotten into this time.”

Caroline smiled. “It’s time we stopped.”

“Yes... it’s time to settle.”

They got up, and Caroline helped Rob limp into the forest.