3115 A.D.D. (After Doomsday), H.M.Z. Goliad
57 years after the start of the war.
The night air was cold and still, completely devoid of any sound other then propeller blades of the zeppelin, softly slicing at the air and pushing it across the black, starry night. The moon was a massive, white disk in the sky, it's craters and scars beautiful in it's silvery glow; it cast it's glow over the black envelope of the airship, detailing every rib and patch on it's rubber surface, and the man sat on top of it.
Voltus was sat on the envelope hugging his knees to his chest, scanning the horizon with his electric, blue eyes. He had his Black Trench coat pulled around him for warmth, though he could take the cold better then most, the frigid temperatures of the high atmosphere were a bit too much and his pale skin would blue at the slightest touch of the wind.
He was up on the top to avoid the crew down below, there was hostility towards him and he could feel it, 'is it because I'm Royal?' he asked himself the first time he sensed it, and he felt that it must have been why because he was sure he didn't do anything to offend them. Taking off his hood, Voltus ran a gloved hand through his snow-white hair, 'must be my hair.' he chuckled to himself mirthlessly, he fell back into silence and let his eyes roam the sky. For a few moments he couldn't think, only admire, the night sky was beautiful, the stars gems and he a window shopper outside the greatest gallery in history. However his time in awe was short-lived, the hatch a few yards behind him squealed open and a trench coat clad crew member popped through, a black rebreather covering their face. As the crew member approached, Voltus could tell she was a woman, the curvature of her hips and the existence of breasts acting as a dead giveaway. Getting up and brushing fallout off himself, Voltus stood towering above the woman, he was about to question her when she slipped. She had barely taken a few steps when she lost her balance and fell over, making a person shaped impression in the envelope where she lay; approaching her, Voltus held her by the elbow and pulled her up, he gave her a few moments to compose herself before questioning her.
"Would you mind telling me who you are before shooting me?", he asked sarcastically, watching the crew member then reach around their head and push a button at the base of their helmet. The black face guard retracted open and stowed itself at the back of the woman's helmet. A pretty face peeked out from behind the glass breather beneath, she had a fairly well rounded face, with soft features and quiet green eyes, tufts of brown hair sticking out from under her helmet and around her face.
"Airman Heart-Flight, Your Highness," she said, flustered and a bit embarrassed after tripping in front of the prince, she disregarded his dry joke and continued, "Captain Koineq wants to see you, he says it's urgent.", Voltus nodded. He didn't care for what the captain wanted to tell him, nor did he care for the attitude of the crew but he knew it would only get worse if he didn't go, so he went without hassle. He followed Heart-Flight back to the hatch and waited for her to climb down before he did, getting down into the access shaft he closed the metal hatch above him and proceeded to follow her down, taking in the warm, bitter-sweet scent of the Luftgas as he descended into the Zeppelin's gondola.
Soon he found himself walking down the main hallway of the airship, the metal floor of the craft clanking as he walked along it. Most, if not all the lights on board the zeppelin were off during the night, this was both a safety procedure and a way to save power, the only non essential lights turned on being the ceiling lights, this was for ease of navigation and because there were no windows down the hallway. At the end of the hallway were the heavy double doors to the control room, on either side of it was an armed guard; as the pair neared the doors the guards stood to attention and gave raised arms salutes, Voltus returned the gesture and the guards opened the doors, completing their wordless transaction.
The room behind the doors was completely dark, save the moon shining through the frontal window and the green faces of crewmen, hunched over computer terminals and processing data. When the door opened the eyes of almost everyone in the room snapped to Voltus for a moment, then back to their monitors or chart tables, finding their work a bit more important then the guest and the hallway light. Stepping into the gloom, Voltus walked the path that lacked green, glowing faces, assuming that it was the walk way to the captain's station. Turning around he noticed that Heart-Flight wasn't following, instead she was still at the door, chatting with the guards and relaxing a bit, resting her hand on the pommel of her sword.
As he approached the raised platform that was the captain's perch, he slicked his hair back as he usually had it, not wanting to face the captain with his messy hair. Taking the steps up to the top of the perch, Voltus found himself squinting in the white light of the moon, after being in the darkness of the ship for so long the sudden brightness hurt his eyes. As his peepers adjusted to the light he saw the shape of the captain hunched over what looked like a letter.
Captain Koineq was a man of an erect stature, he was tall despite his age, almost as tall as Voltus, and Voltus was only a few inches from being freakishly tall; He wore his uniform with purpose, his medals glinting on his chest as his bald head glinted in the moon light. The Captain flipped the letter over and turned to face Voltus, showing a tired expression on his wrinkled old face, though most of it was hidden under his beard, a long scraggly white beard.
"You asked for me, Captain?", Voltus asked politely, his hands behind his back as he stood in front of the ship's master.
"Yes," he replied, in a rough, Rus accent, "I did. You go cargo bay, Quarter master saw land ships, need you to confirm." He informed Voltus of this because frankly, he was an Airman and knew little about land based warfare and Voltus was a Cavalry Commander. "And Voltus." he called out as the prince walked back to the double doors, "I sorry."
Voltus wasn't sure what the Captain was apologizing for, maybe the attitude of the crew, maybe for sending him to the other end of the ship, either way he would take the apology. Nodding to the Captain Voltus turned and stepped through the doors and nodded at the awaiting Heart-Flight, making his way to the back of the ship and to the cargo bay. She followed behind him as opposed to by his side this time, her hand resting on the pommel of her sword as they passed through the darker parts of the ship, Voltus was fully able to defend himself but he appreciated the support, not minding the extra blade in case a disgruntled crew member became violent.
The Captain sighed as he returned to his controls, waiting until the last second to turn around as Voltus left the command room door. Reaching over to the upturned letter he picked it up and crunched it into a ball, tossing it into a waste bin nearby. He wore a grimace on his face from then on as he handled the control, looking visibly frustrated.
Voltus and Heart-Flight soon approached a staircase that would lead down into the cargo bay, as the pair descended the sound of rushing air became louder, 'I wonder what this is about.' Voltus thought to himself as they entered the large open space. The cargo bay was stocked with boxes of supplies and equipment, crates raising up from the floor to the ceiling as if the space was a warehouse, a large, flying warehouse. The large door at the back of the cavernous room was left ajar, like the maw of a large beast screaming wind at him. Approaching the opened door, Voltus called out, "Quartermaster?" he waited for a reply and received none, shrugging he approached the bay door and found a table laid out at the edge, with a pair of binoculars on it. Picking them up he placed them on to his eyes and peered out into the inky blackness, shifting his gaze to the floor he found none of the landships the captain had reported.
A terrible slicing sound filled the space of the cargo bay, Voltus looked around for a second, confused, until he became painfully aware of the rigid pain in his abdomen, looking down at his torso he saw the protruding blade, slick with crimson blood. His knees went weak for a moment and when the sword was extracted violently from behind him he collapsed, falling to his knees with a thud, facing the dark sky before him, eyes wide in pain.
"I'm sorry," mumbled Heart-Flight as she sheathed her sword, "This is beyond me.", she took a few steps closer to the kneeling prince and with one gentle push with her foot, he went over the edge.
As he tumbled through the air, it became painfully obvious that he was join go to die like this, but he was too stunned to think anything more then, 'Beyond her?'
Pilot Chapter, Just checking if anyone would like me to continue.