New World

An Ashen Wasteland Series Book 5

By: Tim Elkins

Copyright © 2020 NJ Publishing

 All Rights Reserved All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of the trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

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Table Of Contents

1

Cold wind sifted through Rachel’s hair as she stood at the prow of the Hoperider,  gazing at the horizon. It had been but a few hours since they left the Dead Continent behind, together with the remains of the Cloudsurfer. Rachel sighed as she fondly remembered her former skyvessel. It had accompanied her on more adventures than she could remember, and had come ahead through impossible circumstances. Moreover, it was a memento of old Jonas. Though the Imperator-class Hoperider  was impressive, she hadn’t become fully accustomed to its size and systems. No time to get used to it,  she mused before chuckling mirthlessly, I’m not even sure if we have time to reach Anglia in the first place.  The Electrian  airship had left the skyvessel behind in no time, since its systems were far superior, making it faster and more agile despite its size.

Rachel and the crew of the Cloudsurfer  also had to acclimate to the systems and construction of the Hoperider.  Their urgency gave them little time to learn how to operate it to its fullest capacity, so they inevitably needed the aid of its original crew. Tensions were inevitable, as Rachel’s people had been at odds with the late Copernicus Zoltan’s for at least a decade, but now she had become the captain of the flying fortress and the crews had to work together. Establishing order was the first priority, an easy task given the gravity of the situation, made easier thanks to Rachel’s officers. She chuckled as she remembered Burton overpowering a man nearly twice his size! Regardless, her laugh was short-lived as she remembered the circumstances which had led her to commandeering the skyvessel.

Her brother, Javier, had betrayed her. But not only me,  Rachel mused bitterly. She remained in shock at learning that he had been the madman who released the Pulse and caused humanity to become nearly extinct. She stared at the crew operating the wind sails and rotors of the Hoperider.  Rachel had never seen so many people on deck at the same time, but then again the Cloudsurfer  was much smaller than her current vessel. She sighed.    They are all capable crewmen, Zoltan’s and my own.  Rachel returned her gaze to the landscape ahead of her, admitting the truth to herself: She was anxious, preoccupied, and struggling to find something to distract her thoughts.

Since leaving the Dead Continent, she had been   trying to figure out what Javier and Armand Lowenstoft’s plans were. It just doesn’t make sense,  she thought, why would one ally with the other?  She remembered the security code uttered by Armand the moment he saw Javier, Alpha-Sigma… something.  Whatever it meant, it seemed to hold some form of significance to Javier and old Electria, but it was lost to her.

Rachel was startled by a steaming mug appearing beside her. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Phineas staring at her. “Wind’s cold,” he said, “Thought you could use a drink.”

She nodded and took the mug, then took a sip from it. The bitter taste of freshly brewed coffee coursed comfortably down her throat, warming her chest and stomach. Rachel sighed. “Thank you. I needed that more than I care to admit,” she said

Phineas leaned next to Rachel on the prow railing. “You need more things than you care to admit,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

Phineas shrugged. “Nothing particular – only that you take too much upon yourself.” Rachel said nothing, and Phineas added, “I’ve known you all my life, Rachel. I can tell when you are bitter about something, and I truly can’t blame you. Your brother sucks.” She scoffed derisively. “I’m sorry.”

“No, Phineas, you’re right. All my life I wanted to find Javier, to make sure that he was alive or at least rest assured that he was dead. I just thought that since you, Jonas and I managed to survive this long, who knows, maybe Javier would have too.”

“Hmm. You know, there’s this person who once said there are two tragedies in life: Not getting you want,” Phineas said, smiling softly as he turned to stare at Rachel, “And getting it.”

“Guess I fall into the latter category then. Now, I wish I wasn’t.”

“Don’t be so harsh on yourself, Rachel. It’s not your fault that he’s... well, what he is.”

“It may not be my fault,” she said, clenching her gloved fists on the railing, “But I feel responsible nonetheless.”

“Why?”

She stared at Phineas’ eyes, struggling to keep her nerve as she replied, “I brought you to him.”

Phineas blinked rapidly, not understanding what she meant. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Well, because of that, he unlocked the vault sealed by...” she paused, fishing for a kind way to say what she meant. After a moment, she continued in a defeated tone, “By your grandfather.”

“Oh, come on, Rachel! There’s no way you could have known such a vault existed in the first place! You are piling stuff on your shoulders, captain – stuff which, by no accounts, concerns you to begin with.”

“What do you mean?”

“What I mean is that you worry too much,” Phineas said soothingly. ”You are doing what you can. And hey, as far as I understand it, we’re on our way to go save the world, eh?”

She smiled softly. “Yea, I guess you are right. I truly don’t know what we’ll go up against.”

Phineas shrugged. “Neither do I, truth be told. I’ve no idea what Javier expects  t o find in Anglia, nor what Armand’s intentions are. If you ask me, your brother is using the crime lord.”

Rachel scoffed and rapped her knuckles on the railing. “You don’t say? Armand may well be a bumpkin next to him, and yet...” she left her sentence unfinished and brought a hand to her chin.

“Hmm?”

“It doesn’t make sense, Phineas. How would Armand know that code to begin with?”

“Well, he was an avid collector of old-world knowledge. He might have happened upon it during his dealings with Zoltan – we can’t know what kind of ruins they encountered.”

“Even so, you’d guess he needed a decryption key, a cypher, something to make sense of it!”

“Well, whatever the case is, he had it, and Javier recognized what it was. If you ask me, captain?”

“Go ahead.”

Phineas nodded and continued. “Our first objective must be reaching Anglia. Once there, and with a clearer mind, we can concentrate on what to do, depending on what Javier’s actions are.”

Rachel sighed and returned her eyes towards the horizon. “Whether I like it or not, first-mate, you are right. All we can do now is ruminate on the past and speculate on the future – neither of which are particularly useful. “

From the observation deck at the topmost point in the skyvessel came a voice amplified by a state-of-the-art crystal set system. “LAND HO!”

“Phineas?” Rachel asked.

“On it, captain,” he replied, producing a pair of binoculars from his coat.

He handed them to Rachel, and she brought them to her eyes. “Well, the lookout is right, we’re close to land.” She returned the binoculars to Phineas. “We’re not far from Anglia now.”

Phineas nodded as he placed the binoculars back in his coat. “No, we’re not. Orders, captain?”

“Tell Riker to veer south-east. I want the Spire to be facing north the moment we arrive.”

“That’ll take us longer, Rachel,” he argued.

“Perhaps, but it’ll give us a full view of the city itself, allowing us to plan accordingly.”

“That much is true,” Phineas uttered, returning the binoculars to his coat and taking out a crystal set. “Riker, set course for the southern end of Anglia, take us there, go full speed ahead!”

“Aye, aye, first-mate!” Riker replied through the set.

Phineas grinned in satisfaction as he put his crystal set away. “Next stop, Anglia!”

Rachel crossed her hands behind her back. “Next stop, home. I only hope we make it on time.”

2

 “You made anything out of... whatever we are looking at, first-mate?” Rachel asked in a mixture of worry and vexation.

“Still trying to, captain,” Phineas replied. He removed the binoculars and rubbed his eyes, wondering again if the light and distance were playing tricks on him. He returned the binoculars to his face, stared at the spectacle ahead of him and reluctantly admitted, “No, captain, I’ve positively no damn clue what the hell is going on.” Over the past minutes, Phineas had struggled to make sense of the strange event they witnessed through the binoculars. The elongated shape of the Electrian  airship was hovering ponderously beside the Spire, its size dwarfing even the tremendous Imperator-class flying fortresses floating above and around the city proper. Most perplexing of all, however, were the strange tentacle-like protrusions coming off of the airship’s hull, their serpentine shapes affixed to the Spire.

That had been the second most distressing thing they had seen upon arriving at Anglia. The first were the skyvessels  –and even one flying fortress- falling down in smoking balls of fire, downed by the swarm of smaller ships surrounding the larger one. Whatever the Electrians’ intentions were, one thing was flagrantly clear: They were not friendly.

“Well, Phineas, whatever it is, I doubt we want to find out.” Rachel took her crystal set and to it she said, “Crew, top deck, now!”

Her crew followed her command quickly but orderly, forming in two distinct groups composed of her previous crew, and Zoltan’s former crewmates.

“Alright people listen up. That,” she uttered, pointing at the Spire, “Is what we’ll face against. Its technology is superior, so are its weapons and systems.” Rachel sucked on her teeth, her expression troubled as she considered her words. “I am not going to lie – some of us won’t see the break of dawn. Yet, if we don’t do something now, the Shattering -or something worse- will happen anew. People of the Cloudsurfer  and the Terminus Est,  now’s the time to set our old differences aside and work together to make sure there’s a tomorrow!” The crewmembers glared at each other momentarily, reliving the previous slights and conflicts they had had against each other, but quietly accepting their captain’s words.

Milton took a step forward and exclaimed, “What are your orders, captain?”

“The Hoperider  is to dislodge all of its interceptors –“

“All of them?” The flightmaster of the former Terminus Est  asked.

“All of them,” Rachel confirmed. “Your task is to engage the airship’s defenses and try to cause as much damage as possible. Twins, you are two of our best shooters and my most trusted officers – you will lead the assault against the airship. Riker?”

He saluted and exclaimed, “Aye, captain?”

“Contact the Anglian Armada and inform them of our intentions – a coordinated assault against the Spire and the airship is our best option for success. Phineas?”

“Captain?” he replied.

“You, Milton, Burton and I will take a lander packed with guns and weapons and try to enter the spire through its piers. We’ll bring a detachment with us to assault the tower from inside,” she paused and took a deep breath before adding, “And do whatever is necessary. Gunnery teams?”

“Aye captain!”

“Aim all of the Hoperider’s  weapons at the airship, and wait for my signal to attack it. If everything goes as planned, our flying fortress will be in contact with other skyvessels , so that we may coordinate an attack. Riker, as I ordered, that is your task. Now, crew, any questions?”

Emmy took a step forward and sullenly asked, “If we die, do we get a premium for damages and compensations?”

“If your service was outstanding,” Rachel jested, “I’ll make sure that you go down with your pockets lined!”

“In that case, captain, I want to go with you.”

Phineas leaned closely to Rachel and whispered, “Rachel, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Fellow’s got a track record of –“

She lifted her hand, silencing Phineas. To Emmy, she said, “Why?”

“Because I have a score to settle with Armand Lowenstoft,” he replied, lifting his prosthetic arm.

“Can I count on you?”

Emmy scoffed. “Of course. I don’t want to lose my other arm.”

“Well, it’s settled then. Flyers, man the interceptors and be ready to set off. Lander crew, dress up in exos and bring as many weapons and ammo as you may. Phineas?”

Phineas perked up and asked, “Yes, Rachel?”

She smiled knowingly and inquired, “Are you with me?”

Phineas blinked and returned the smile. “With you, Rachel, as I’ve said before, and as I will always say, to hell and back!” He lifted an open hand, holding it forward for Rachel to grasp.

She took Phineas’ hand and uttered, “To hell and back!”

***

Rachel sat next to Phineas in the pilot’s cabin. She decided to let him handle the lander since he was admittedly a better pilot than her. The exo-suit fit her body comfortably; though slightly oppressive, its cooling components prevented her from feeling stuffy. Good,  she thought, can’t think straight if my brain’s cooking.  Milton and Burton were manning the lander’s heavy weapons, while Emmy sat in the passenger’s area of the smaller vessel. She closed her eyes and quickly reviewed her plan, uttering a silent prayer for it to work.

Now, all they could do was wait.

“Captain?” Riker asked through the crystal set.

“Inform me, helmsman.”

“The Anglian Armada has responded – they accept that a coordinated attack seems as the best option to take down the enemy airship,” he paused, and worriedly added, “They are awaiting your signal.”

She closed the crystal set and glanced sideways at Phineas. “Are we sure of this?” she asked. “We may not come out alive this time.”

Phineas scoffed. “Rachel, we survived the fall of Electria, the Pulse, the Shattering, and grew up in a hostile, steam-powered world. If you ask me, Javier and Armand should fear us, not the other way around. Besides,” he uttered, placing his exo-clad hand on Rachel’s, “We are together.”

Rachel stared at the expressionless mask of Phineas exo-suit, yet she could feel his eyes intensely trained upon her. She brought back the crystal set and said, “Riker, open the communications channel.”

“Done, captain. The Armada is listening to you.”

“Greetings, gentlemen,” she began, “This is captain Rachel Sternritter of the Imperator-class flying fortress one-zero-seven Hoperider  speaking, respond.”

“This is captain Faustus Eisenfaust of the Imperator-class four-zero-four Umberlight  responding.”

“This do be captain Eileen van der Steppe from Regis-class five-one-five-three Sunglare responding.”

“Captain Jacques du Guillaume from the Imperator zero-zero-seven Finsternis,  coming in.”

One by one, the captains of every available skyvessel replied to Rachel’s rallying call, each one stating their designation, numeral, and vessel’s name. Once everyone declared themselves, Rachel uttered, “Alright, ladies and gentlemen, I assume my helmsman has clued you in to the plan of attack. The airship assaulting our homeland is advanced beyond our capabilities – we won’t manage to bring it down. What I request of you is to send your interceptors and landers to buy time for my crew and I to infiltrate the Spire, kill the perpetrators of this heinous act, and stage a coordinated, final assault against our enemy. Are there any questions?” A worried silence reigned, but its meaning was clear. Rachel’s plan was, if not solid, the only course of action they had. “In that case,” she said, gritting her teeth, “May the gods smile upon us.”

Phineas started the release sequence of the lander. Steam hissed as the gates of the hold opened, and pressure built within the smaller vessel’s systems. Before pressing the release, however, Phineas said, “Rachel, is what you said true?”

“What, Phineas?”

“Are we to kill the perpetrators?”

Rachel sighed, her teeth and jaw aching as she ground them violently. “Release the lander, first-mate. And take us to the Spire.”

Phineas stared at her, and reluctantly returned his gaze to the lander’s nose. “Aye, captain,” he said, launching the vessel.

***

The Hoperider’s  lander was a state-of-the-art Magnatus-class ornithopter, unlike the Cloudsurfer ’s. Despite that, its controls and handling were familiar to Phineas. As soon as it was clear away from the larger skyvessel, he pointed its nose downwards in a short free-fall.  He deftly pulled back on its control lever and pressed the wing-latch, releasing the apparatus’ bird-like appendages, making it soar into the air.

The view from the cockpit took the breath away from Phineas. The skies above Anglia were blackened by hundreds of interceptors, landers, and skyvessels  making their way towards the Spire, all with the singular purpose of defending their homeland. A grim thought came to Phineas’ mind. This is the first time I see so many people, from so many backgrounds working together towards the same end.

Meanwhile, outlaw vessels sailed the skies alongside the Anglian Armada, merchant ships added their own crews to the attack, and even skybarges were ferrying static guns and cannons towards the vicinity of the Spire and the Electrian  airship. The tension was palpable, and Phineas’ fingers twitched on the rudder. A trickle of cold sweat dripped down his back, his mouth felt dry and his breathing was ragged as he regarded the tremendous mass of the airship dwarfing even the largest flying fortresses. A pit formed in Phineas’ gut as he contemplated the gargantuan task ahead. We can’t do this... this is suicide! We should escape, run away, find a place to lay low and survive whatever’s going to happen!

Phineas’ troubled thoughts were interrupted by a soft pressure on his shoulder. He glanced sideways to see Rachel’s hand on his shoulder, before lifting his gaze to her face. Through the expressionless visage of the exo-suit, Phineas could picture Rachel’s reassuring, encouraging expression. “Take us in, first-mate,” she said calmly.

Phineas nodded, letting himself be filled with his captain’s determination.

Staring forward and firmly holding the rudder,  he replied: “Aye, aye, captain.” The lander surged ahead, flying beside the Hoperider’s  interceptors as they were dislodged from the flying fortress’ hangar bays. Its larger size was nonetheless obscured by the cloud of ships flying towards their enemy. The sun overhead was occluded by the number of smaller vessel above and around Phineas and his crewmates. He quickly adjusted the pressure valves in the cockpit, diverting steam away from the flappers and towards the rear rotors to increase the lander’s speed.

“Uh, captain, first-mate?” Burton’s voice came from the gunnery seats.

“Speak, Burton,” Rachel commanded.

“Somethin’s happenin’ to that bloody ugly thin’ ahead!”

A tremendously sized hatch at the side of the airship started opening, and from it came out a strange, three-pronged structure. A dot of light started growing at its center, just as its prongs became lambent with energy.

“Phineas, that is –“

“DAMN IT!” Phineas swerved violently, his head feeling light due to the forces inside the cockpit, yet his instinct proved true. As soon as he veered, a tremendous blast erupted from the prongs, incinerating a score of interceptors and landers.

A horrible explosion resonated through the cockpit. Milton’s alarmed voice exclaimed “Captain! The Regis-class Zephirchaser  is going down! That bloody thing ruined it in a single shot!”

“Damn it!” Rachel exclaimed and grasped the crystal set. “All fliers, beware! Dodge the airship’s attacks at all costs!”

Her warning came barely on time as an array of turrets sprung to life along the hull of the airship, its bullets cruelly perforating the hulls of interceptors and landers alike, sending them hurtling to the floor below. The defending steam-powered vessels opened fire, their heaviest weapon barely denting the gunmetal sheets of the Electrian  airship.

“This is Captain Ralathor Fenester of the assault Regis Schadenfreude  requesting leave to attack.”

Quickly, Rachel yelled, “Fire at will!”

“Every plan sounds great on paper until it’s set in motion, eh?” Emmy said from the crew hold.

“Shut up, Emmy!” Rachel commanded. “Phineas, take us in!”

“Aye captain!” Phineas swerved the lander towards the Electrian  airship, dodging turret fire and falling steam vessels. The rudder vibrated violently as the Schadenfreude  opened fire, its enormous cannons blasting five-hundred millimeter shells towards their enemy. The first-mate watched in awe as they detonated against the side of the Electrian  vessel, but when the smoke of the eruption cleared he was dismayed to see that they caused no damage.

“That thing’s indestructible!” Burton exclaimed.

“Nothing is indestructible, Burton,” Milton chided him. “We have to find its weak spot.”

“If we make it that far, of course!” Emmy added.

“Phineas, how far away are we from the Electrian  airship?”

“Six kilometers, captain, soon we will – wait, what is that?”

A series of plates along the airship were separating from the hull. They started a rotating motion around the vessel which grew in speed with every passing second. A blue energy field surrounded the rotating pieces, and Phineas became aware of a dull hum in the air.

“PHINEAS, EVASIVE MANEUVERS!”

The first-mate had no time to react. A tremendous energy blast exploded around the Electrian  airship, sending every nearby interceptor and lander hurtling downwards. Phineas grimaced as he tried to regain control of their smaller ship to no avail. Steam hissed as pipes ruptured due to the strain, valves and pressure dials ruptured as the pressure became overpowering. “Captain, we’re going down!”

“I noticed already, damn it! Abandon ship!”

“But captain, we’ll smash on the ground!” Milton retorted.

“The exos have steam-jets installed, just use them before you hit the ground!” Rachel was interrupted by an explosion as the lander’s boiler erupted. “Jump, now!” she commanded.

You heard the captain,  Phineas thought as he unstrapped from the pilot’s seat. Another concussive blast emanated from the Electrian  airship, and the lander was sent spiraling downwards. The first-mate was jostled and tossed around the cockpit, violently banging against its walls, ceiling and floor. Damn it!  He thought angrily as he struggled to grab onto something. He finally managed to reach the rudder and clamped his fingers around it, then he unholstered the heavy revolver in his exo-suit and fired once, twice, thrice at the cockpit’s glass, shattering it utterly.

The cockpit’s decompression and the centrifugal force ejected Phineas out. He flailed uselessly as he struggled to regain his bearings. After a few despairing seconds, the exo’s gyroscopes kicked in and balanced Phineas’ position. He was facing the Electrian  airship as he plunged downwards. He brought up the exo’s crystal set and called, “Rachel? Burton, Milton? Respond!”

“Phineas!” Rachel cried through the set. “Gods I thought you were trapped in the lander!”

“I was – I managed to escape.”

“So did we,” Burton declared. “But we lost our guns and weapons!”

“We’ll made do with the exos,” Rachel uttered. “We’re too far from the Spire!”

“That we are – what are your orders, captain?” Milton asked.

“Look below us – there’s a chimney coming from the Nadir!”

“If we use the tram systems below the ground, we can quickly reach the Spire,” Phineas reasoned.

“You heard the first-mate, towards the chimney!”

Phineas edged downwards, aiming towards the smoking tower. From the corners of his eyes he saw the rest of his crew doing the same before witnessing the destruction caused by the Electrians. The sky was ablaze with burning interceptors falling to their doom, while landers struggled not to hurtle out of control. The city itself had been severely damaged by the falling skyvessels  and Electrian  ships, its streets were littered by burning debris and scrap metal. So much death and destruction, and why, to appease a madman’s wishes?

The chimney came closer and Phineas’ vision was obscured by the oily plume of smoke emanating from it. The first-mate hurtled through the chimney, trailed by his captain and crewmates. The shaft itself went straight down into the bowels of the Nadir.

“Phineas, there must be a large fan at the end of the shaft, suctioning pollution from the Nadir,” Rachel uttered. “Destroy it before it turns us into mincemeat!”

“Aye, captain!” Phineas replied before uttering an expletive. “Should’ve known before,” he kicked himself, reaching for one of the blowers affixed to the exo-suit. He aimed the rocket straight downwards and fired it. The projectile flew true, its exhaust illuminating the sides of the chimney. Straight below, the fan became visible as warm, orange light came through its spinning blades.

“Come on,” Phineas muttered as he and the rest of the crew came closer.

“Come on!” He pleaded as the rocket neared the fan.

“COME ON!”

The projectile hit the fan, destroying its support and sending its blades hurtling downwards. Phineas tore through the smoke and debris into the Nadir. Its manufactories  belched oily blackness into the ceiling of the massive cavern, obscuring the crew’s vision.

After they cleared the smoke, Rachel yelled, “There! Aim towards the southernmost manufactory!”

“Aye captain!” the crew agreed as they veered towards the edifice signaled by Rachel.

When they were a few meters above the building, they activated the exo-suit’s stabilizer, ejecting a powerful steam jet and slowing their fall. They alighted easily on the roof of the manufactory and took a moment to regain their breaths.

“Well,” Rachel said, “It’s time to –“ She was interrupted by an overwhelmingly loud hum coming from everywhere around the crew.

Phineas was startled to realize that he was being lifted off his feed, pulled upwards by an unseen force. Worse, cracking noises and hissing steam reached his ears as he realized that every piece of metal around himself and his crewmates was being pulled upwards. As abruptly as the magnetic field manifested, it disappeared, dropping the crew to the floor.

The exo-suits’ weight broke through the damaged ceiling of the manufactory, and Phineas and the rest fell through, colliding violently against the manufactory’s  beams, machines and supporting structures. Air was driven from Phineas’ lungs as he landed violently on the floor of the building. Despite having been protected by the exo-suit, his joins protested at the fall.

“Alright people, is everyone alright?” Rachel asked through the crystal set.

“Aye, captain,” her crewmates groaned, standing up from the debris.

“Captain? Captain Sternritter, do you copy?” Riker’s voice came.

“Come in, Riker.”

“Thank the gods! Captain, the Electrian  ship... it did something, it charged some sort of energy around it, took down with it a number of skyvessels  and...” He paused, his distress getting the best of him.

“Helmsman, what happened?”

“Everything made of metal was pulled towards it, captain! They’re getting ready for something but we don’t know –“ His voice was cut off.

“Riker? Riker! Damn it!” To Phineas, Rachel said, “First-mate, do you think it can be –“

“Another pulse?” He interrupted. “Possibly. We’re running out of time.”

“Then we must hurry and reach the tram before –“ Rachel was stopped by a gunshot hitting her on her temple, the impact dampened by the exo’s helmet. “Damn it, now what?”

Phineas looked around him and felt a pit forming in his stomach. “Uh, Rachel? We’ve got company.”

“What – oh, damn.” They were surrounded by dozens of grimy, haggard manufactory workers aiming their weapons at them.

One of the workers took a step forward. “That first shot was a warning,” he said flatly. “The next one will burst your exo’s valve. We don’t take kindly to Lowenstoft’s men, especially after the mess they’ve caused.”

“We ain’t none of Lowenstoft’s!” Burton declared.

The man laughed and snidely said, “Indeed? Yet you wear his exo-suits. Tell me, little man, why shouldn’t I blow you up right now?”

“Because he’s right,” Rachel uttered, stepping forward. “We’re here to stop Armand and the Electrians.”

“Electrians? You mean that weird skyvessel by the spire?”

“Precisely,” Rachel replied.

“That’s nothing to us. Whatever happens above doesn’t concern us, and why should it? Upper-worlders don’t give a rat’s rear about us,” he scoffed. “And neither do we.”

“Listen, we need to reach the tram to the Spire, or they’ll cause another Shattering,” Phineas uttered sternly.

“As I said, none of our business. To me you look like Lowenstoft’s men, and that’s enough to distrust you.”

“Well crew,” Rachel said, “You heard him, let’s prove we’re not Armand’s people.” She started removing her helmet, and the rest of the crew did the same. “See?” She asked when her face was free. “We’re not with Armand Lowenstoft. I am captain Rachel Sternritter of –“

“Wait,” the man at the front said. “Sternritter? Aren’t you the one who purchased the twins?”

“Purchased?” Milton asked.

Rachel sighed. “Anselm and Elisa were slaves, Milton. They don’t like to talk about it for obvious reasons.” To the man she said, “I purchased them, yes, but they didn’t go from one form of slavery to another. They became respected members of my crew, two of my officers,” she paused, carefully weighing her words. “And my friends.”

“Prove it,” declared the man.

Rachel glared at him, but acquiesced. She brought up her crystal set and called, “Anselm, Elisa, do you receive me?” Silence. “Twins, this is your captain, do you receive me?”

A grin formed on the man’s face as he lifted his musket and aimed it towards Rachel. “Well, it seems that your deception didn’t pan out, eh?”

“Captain,” Anselm’s voice came from the crystal set. “We receive you!”

Rachel let out a relieved sigh. “Situation report, gunner!”

“Fouled up beyond all recognition, captain,” uttered Elisa. “Electrians are wiping us out, our skyvessels  are falling by the score!”

After a short pause, Anselm added, “Captain, if we don’t make it, I... We want to thank you for everything you’ve done for us. You gave us what no one else ever would have – a chance at life, at doing something for ourselves.”

“You can say that to my face once we see each other, understood?” Rachel uttered.

“Aye, captain! Twins out!” Elisa exclaimed.

Rachel lifted her sight towards the manufactory worker. “Proof enough?” she asked.

The man lowered his weapon. “Apologies. We’ve been... hard pressed of late.” He extended his hand and stated, “Name’s Joachim Xiang, and these are my brothers and sisters in misery.”

Rachel shook Joachim’s hand. “A pleasure, Joachim, but a short-lived one, I’m afraid. We must reach the tramline to get to the Spire elevator. Can you help us?”

“Reaching the tram might be difficult, riding one may be impossible. Lowenstoft’s men are crawling among the streets and shooting anyone on sight, they’ve hijacked the tram and are using it to transport things into the Spire. Alas, there isn’t much we can do.”

“Then we’ll have to manage,” Phineas uttered. “Do you have weapons and ammunition to spare?”

“We do, but not automatics nor repeaters.”

“Please,” Rachel said, “Anything you can spare, we’ll gladly take.”

“Well,” Joachim said, “We can give you flintlocks, muskets, blunderbusses. Old tech, but better than nothing.”

“As I said, we’ll gladly take anything you can spare.”

Joachim nodded and whistled. From one of the alcoves in the manufactory came two workers pushing a cart loaded with weapons. “Take what you need,” Joachim uttered.

“Thank you,” Rachel said, taking weapons and ammo. The rest of the crew followed, arming themselves. When they were finished, the captain uttered, “Alright people, let’s move out, we’re running out of time.”

“Wait, captain Sternritter,” Joachim said.

“Yes?”

“Why did you... liberate the twins?”

Rachel shrugged. “Because it was the right thing to do.”

“Hmm, an interesting notion, captain. Hopefully you’ll keep it in mind next time anyone in a position of power talks about us. Anselm and Elisa, they’re not the only slaves down here, you know?”

Rachel holstered two flintlock pistols, donned the exo’s helmet and uttered, “I know.” To her crew, she said, “Let’s move.”

Phineas donned his own helmet and followed Rachel into the eternal twilight of the Nadir.

3

 The gas-lit streets of Anglia’s underworld were distressingly silent, as they were sequestered by Armand Lowenstoft’s men. Steamcarts  were haphazardly stopped on the streets, abandoned by their occupants. The windows of the soot-stained buildings of the Nadir were all dark and closed. From time to time a dull rumble echoed through the Nadir, putting Rachel and her crewmen on edge. Time was, indeed, running low.

The five companions rounded a corner, and Rachel hissed, “Wait!”

A patrol of Armand’s men coursed through the street, brandishing heavy weapons and making certain no people were out on the streets. Tense moments passed as the patrol was sufficiently away. “That was close,” Rachel declared, “Move out.”

They snuck through the back alleys of the Nadir. The tram leading towards the Spire was ahead, the station was heavily guarded by Armand’s henchmen. The Spire lift itself was visible to the north, its structure bringing men up and down its length. “What are Armand’s people doing?” Rachel asked.

“Joachim said they were transporting something into the Spire,” Emmy stated. “Weapons or supplies, maybe?”

“Whatever they’re carrying,” Phineas interjected, “We need to hop onto a tram. Ideas?”

“We could just ask nicely,” Burton uttered.

“Are you daft, shorty?” Milton asked. “They’ll shoot us on sight!”

“No, no, he’s got a point.” Phineas took a hand to his chin. “Joachim and the manufactory’s workers took us for Armand’s men. The exo-suits we’re wearing obscure our appearances. Maybe if we play our cards right we can bluff our way into a tram.”

“Worth a try,” Rachel said. “Follow me and let me do the talking.”

They stepped out of cover and nonchalantly walked towards the tram station. Rachel gauged their defenses, noticing the heavily armed, exo-clad guardsmen protecting the entrance to the tram. One of the guards noticed the incoming group and lifted his weapon. “Halt, identify yourselves!”

“Easy there, guy,” Rachel said calmly. “We’ve been sent to relieve you.”

“Bloody finally, we requested the change nearly three hours ago! Those damn techie bastards think they run the show.”

Rachel scoffed. “Tell me that to me. Did they even tell you why we are guarding the tram?”

“Well it seems they need a lot of metal to trigger... I don’t know, some sort of machine or whatever. Truth is those techies give me the creeps. Their leader? Total nutcase, keeps talking about a rebirth, and making the Earth an ashen wasteland!”

Rachel glanced towards Phineas, he nodded and Rachel said, “Sounds lovely, eh? Well, anyhow you can go relax, have a pint or two.”

“And well deserved too,” another of the soldiers said. “Just make sure the crates are loaded to –“ As the soldier was talking, the tram reached the station, riding a cloud of steam, its steel wheels shrieking as they ground to a halt.

The doors opened and a detachment stepped out. “Alright soldiers, we’ve come to relieve – Hey! Who are you?”

“Well, this is awkward,” Rachel uttered, rapidly unholstering her flintlock and firing at one of the unsuspecting soldiers.

Her crewmates jumped sideways, releasing their own weapons and firing at Armand’s men. Their bullets ricocheted off of their suits, but they were enough to distract them. Rachel barreled towards one of the soldiers, tackling him to the ground. She quickly stole his weapon and fired at him before jumping to her feet and finishing two other unsuspecting enemies.

The third one fired at Rachel, his heavy bullet penetrating through her exo and sending her to the ground.

“Rachel!” Phineas exclaimed as he quickly picked up one of the downed soldier’s weapons and fired at his captain’s attacker. The man fell backwards in a rain of crimson, and Phineas threw the heavy repeater towards Milton. “Fire at will!” He commanded, rolling to pick up another weapon.

More confused soldiers descended from the tram only to be quickly dispatched by Phineas and Milton. When no more exo-clad individuals came out, Phineas ordered, “Burton, pick up Rachel and bring her in. Milton, tend to her, I’ll drive the tram!”

They did as commanded, and Rachel was carried to one of the seats in the cart. Burton laid her down carefully and Milton started her examination. “I’m fine,” Rachel barked. “The bullet grazed my shoulder,” she winced. “It hurts something fierce, but I’ll live.”

“Captain, are you joking?” Milton asked. “That bullet went clean through you!”

“Exos have a laudanum injector,” Emmy stated. “That’s why she can power through the pain. She’s not feeling the entirety of it.”

“We have no time, proper examination will have to wait,” Rachel uttered. “Phineas, take us forward.”

“Aye, captain,” the first-mate responded, sending the tram into motion.

“My god!” Burton yelled, prompting everyone to run towards him.

“What? What is it?” Rachel exclaimed, holding her flintlock at the ready. She lowered her pistol when she saw Burton was fine. “Burton, what the hell?”

“Look at what I found, captain! Crates with guns!” He bent down and picked up an auto-cannon. “Now this is a weapon!” Milton groaned, walked forward and slapped the back of Burton’s head. “Hey, what gives!”

“That’s for making us worried!” Then she rammed her fist in Burton’s gut. “And that’s for getting first-pick!”

“Well, thankful though I am for the weapons Joachim gave us, we need more firepower” Rachel declared. “Arm yourselves to the teeth folks and get ready. Next stop, the Spire.”

***

Phineas felt a mixture of worry and admiration for Rachel. Despite her wound, her determination remained unwavering, but he wondered whether it was her intent to prevent another Pulse, her disdain over Javier, or something else that kept her going.

She takes too much upon herself,  he thought as the tram raced across the Nadir. They sped past fortified stations and checkpoints guarded by Armand’s men. Why does he need so many soldiers? Why are they so keen on stopping anyone from getting to the Spire?  More unanswered questions swirled in Phineas’ thoughts, increasing the apprehension he felt.

He was startled as a hand landed softly on his shoulder. “Rachel, you scared me!” He exclaimed.

“Apologies, first-mate. How far away are we?”

“Not far,” Phineas replied. “We should reach the Spire in less than ten minutes.”

“Good.”

“What will we do when we reach it, captain?” the first-mate asked.

“We take the lift to the top. Once inside, we find a way to stop Armand and...” she paused.

“Javier?” Phineas asked.

Rachel sighed. “Yes. Javier. I just... I fear what’s coming, Phineas. I don’t want to face it alone.”

Phineas held her hand. “You won’t.”

Rachel said nothing and merely pressed Phineas’ hand. “Wait, first-mate, what’s that ahead?”

“That’s... Damn it, a blockade!”

Rachel spat an expletive. “They don’t want us to reach the Spire! Ideas, Phineas?”

“Hmm.” He gritted his teeth in concentration as he weighed the group’s options. “I have one, captain. You’re not going to like it.”

“Try me,” she commanded.

Phineas nodded and pressed the tram’s throttle forward to its maximum speed. The vehicle lurched forward as its boiler began working to its full capacity. “Run to the back of the tram!” The first-mate exclaimed, jumping off his seat and bolting for the door.

“Phineas you damn madman!” Rachel yelled after him.

Burton, Milton and Emmy stood from their seats. “Captain, what’s going on?” Milton asked.

“Run to the back of the tram, now!” She barked in reply.

No one uttered a word in complaint as they ran after Phineas and Rachel. They reached the rear end of the tram and Phineas barked, “Brace yourselves!”

The crew held onto anything they could, closed their eyes and waited.

Phineas, Rachel and their crewmates were thrust forward as the tram barreled through the blockade. They were tossed and turned around inside the wagon as it skidded sideways, toppled over and started tumbling violently. The world around Phineas seemed to twist and twirl as they kept bouncing inside the tram. Eventually, the metal wagon stopped tumbling as it slid over the ground, shrieking loudly as it ground to a halt.

Finally it stopped.

Phineas felt dizzy and battered. Though the exo-suit had dampened the damage, he still felt bruised and wounded. Even though his limbs protested as he climbed to his feet, he was glad that nothing was broken. “Alright crew, how you holdin’ up?”

“To hell with you, first-mate!” Rachel groaned.

“I’ll take that as a ‘we’re fine, Phineas dearest.’ Milton, Burton, Emmy?”

“Fine,” Milton blurted out, echoed by Burton.

“I could be better,” Emmy uttered. “My arm came loose!”

“Plug it back in then, and let’s climb out,” Phineas commanded. “We’re here.”

Phineas pulled himself up over one of the tram’s twisted windows and helped Rachel up. Together they pulled Burton, then Milton and Emmy.  The tram’s wreckage littered their surroundings in a mix of trampled soldiers and spilled crates, but Phineas was right: The Spire lift was dead ahead.

“First-mate, a word,” Rachel said.

She sounds angry,  Phineas thought as he turned to face his captain. “Yes, captain?”

Rachel planted her fists on her hips and exclaimed, “That was perhaps the stupidest, most dangerous, most bloody irresponsible thing you’ve ever done!”

“But it saved us time and effort! We’d have had to finish off every other –“

“I’m not criticizing you, Phineas. I’m praising you,” Rachel interrupted. “You have guts, and I want to thank you for that.”

“Rachel?”

She sighed. “This whole adventure has been a mess from the start, but you’ve stuck with me throughout. Thank you.”

Phineas smiled. “Rachel, everything I’ve accomplished, every feat ascribed to my name has been possible thanks to your help. I too am thankful to have you by my side.”

“Bloody hell will you two kiss already!” Burton exclaimed and everyone turned towards him. “What? I’m just sayin’ what everyone’s thinkin’!”

Phineas stammered. “I... er... Rachel, I mean...”

“Hush, first-mate. Whatever you want to say, let’s wait until we come out of this ordeal alive,” Rachel paused and took a deep, shuddering breath. “Please.”

Phineas understood his captain. She is as afraid of losing me as I am of losing her.  “Aye, aye, captain!” He exclaimed.

“Thank you,” she responded. “Alright crew, onwards. Be on your guard, we don’t know what we will encounter up there.”

4

Anglia was on fire. Buildings burned as skyvessels  and airships fell on them. Plumes of ink-black smoke trailed debris falling from the sky. Vehicles and carts were toppled over in the visible streets and yet the battle raged on above the Anglian airspace. The lift sped towards the top of the Spire, shuddering occasionally as cannon fire impacted its exterior. Tremors shook the base of the Spire and the hum emanating from the Electrian  airship had become omnipresent.

We are running out of time,  Rachel thought bitterly as an interceptor exploded in front of the lift. I don’t know if we’ll make it.  Too much was at stake for her to feel at ease – her crew, her skyvssel, Anglia. “Mankind,” she muttered unconsciously.

“You said something?” Phineas asked.

“No, nothing. Just thinking.”

“Hmm.” Phineas returned his gaze to the battle outside. “Remember when we first saw the Spire?”

Rachel chuckled. “I do. It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen.”

“Agreed, the edifice is really impressive. It’s hard to imagine it was built by Anglians.”

A terrible thought came to Rachel’s mind. “What if it wasn’t?”

“What do you mean?” The first-mate asked, glancing sideways at his captain.

“Well, how else would you explain the Electrian  airship latching onto the Spire?”

“Hmm, I hadn’t actually thought about it.”

“Thing is, the technology rift between the remnants of Electria and Anglia is too vast, and as far as anyone knows the Spire has always just been there beside Ebon Peak. I don’t see how Anglians could have constructed it.”

“But the skyvessel moorings must be custom made, Rachel,” Phineas retorted. “Otherwise they wouldn’t work with our aircraft.”

“Phineas, let’s face the facts. We’ve spent our lives atop the Cloudsurfer  going from one ruin to the next without truly questioning why or how our current technology was developed,” she paused. “And so quickly.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that we were locked in the bunker for two hundred years, first-mate, yet when we came out there were already steam-powered devices, some of them beyond even our old capabilities.”

“You may be on to something, Rachel,” Phineas conceded. “Guess we’ll ask Javier once we reach the top.”

“Yea,” she replied curtly.

Phineas took a deep breath. “Rachel?” he asked.

“Hmm?”

“What will happen if Javier is er... uncooperative?”

“Whatever needs to happen,” she replied sullenly. “You don’t need to dance around your question, Phineas. You can ask me outright.”

“What do you think I mean to ask?”

Rachel sighed. “You mean to ask whether I’ll kill Javier, should it prove necessary. Am I right?”

Phineas clasped his hands behind his back and stared wordlessly towards the horizon. After an awkwardly long silence, he said, “Sometimes there’s just no way to win, Rachel. Sometimes the only way to do good things is through evil deeds. Such is life, don’t you think?”

“Life’s a bitch” she reluctantly agreed.

“Captain, if I may?” Emmy interjected.

“Speak.”

“Thank you. Life’s not a bitch, really. Life doesn’t care one whit about one’s trials and tribulations, it doesn’t care about what’s good or evil. Life is just like this lift, in fact. Either we accept it and ride on it, or we jump off into the void and get it over with.

So think about this, captain: Considering your brother’s the one who caused the collapse of the old world –and is trying to do the same, it seems- isn’t it evil to let him get away with his plans?”

“Would that it were as easy, Emmy,” Rachel retorted. “Sadly, these things are rarely ever black or white.”

“On that, captain, you are mistaken. Stop thinking about your brother and think of Anglia as a whole: Either we live or we die. Easy.”

Rachel scoffed. “So he lives or he dies? It’s not as easy as that. He’s a mad bastard, he ruined the world, has killed thousands, if not millions, but in the end,” she closed her eyes, “He’s all the family I have.”

“Ouch,” Milton said.

“What?” Rachel asked.

“Just that, captain. Ouch. Let me ask you this – how long did you live with your brother dearest?”

“I...” she paused counting. “Truth be told, I rarely ever got along with him. He left our home when I was six years old and before that we didn’t really hang out.”

“And how long have you been with the Cloudsurfer? ”

“At least then years.”

“Cap’n,” Burton growled, “We’ve stood by your side through the worst situations. We’ve laughed beside you, wept beside you, even bled beside you!”

“Rachel,” Phineas interjected. “Javier is your blood relative and nothing will ever change that,” he added sternly, “But don’t go around saying he’s your only family. We are your family – myself, Milton, Burton, even Emmy. Every crewmate of the Cloud ... Hoperider  is your family and we will stand by your side no matter what.”

Rachel felt herself close to weeping and was thankful for the exo-suit’s mask. “Thank you,” she said bluntly. She took a deep breath to steady herself, and added, “You are right. I couldn’t have asked for a better family. I only hope there’s another way.”

“Don’t worry, Rachel. We’ll do our best so everyone comes out alive,” Phineas said soothingly.

The rest of the ride transpired in silence, but nothing else needed to be said. Rachel felt truly fortunate to have these people by her side. A smile crept to her face. Just as Phineas says, to hell and back.  

***

Phineas burst through the lift’s doors as soon as they opened. He brandished the heavy repeater rifle right and left, ready to fire at any targets. To his surprise, it was empty. “Clear,” he said to the rest of the crew.

The five of them walked into the wide semicircle of the Spire’s top. Things were eerily calm – there were no signs of battle or struggle, no pieces of debris and no tangible signs that the battle outside was raging on.

“Something’s not right,” Rachel muttered.

“Agreed,” Phineas echoed. “We must be on our guards.”

Neither the first-mate nor the captain had ever been that far up the Spire, as it was a place reserved for administrators and other Anglian aristocrats. Still, Phineas expected to find something when they reached the top, but the place seemed abandoned.

“Captain, look ahead,” Milton uttered. “What is that?”

Phineas and Rachel followed Milton’s finger as she pointed at the eerie blue light at the end of a long hallway. “I don’t know,” Rachel declared, “But it seems like our only option.”

They walked warily towards the light, their feeling of unease growing as the ever-present hum became louder. A strange pressure began pushing into the crew, making them shift awkwardly on their feet. Emmy stepped close to one of the walls and said, “Hey fellas, look at this.” He reached for a piece of metal on the wall and his hand was violently tugged into it. “What the hell?” He tried to yank his hand away, but it refused to come loose. “Hey, a little help?”

“Gotcha fella,” Burton grunted as he took hold of Emmy’s shoulders. “Come on, you son of a –“ They fell backwards together as Emmy was finally released. “Sorry mate, you ain’t my type. Care to get up?”

“With pleasure,” Emmy uttered as he stood up. “What the hell was that?”

“It’s magnetized,” Phineas stated. “To pull the exo’s alloy –a non-ferromagnetic metal- a tremendous electrical field must be coursing through the walls.”

“Phineas, are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Rachel asked cautiously.

“Aye, captain. We are inside the Electrian  ship.”

“How... when?” Emmy blurted out.

“This hallway mustn’t be a part of the Spire,” Rachel replied. “It melded with the tower somehow. The only path is ahead.”

They walked through the serpentine hallways of the Electrian  airship. The five were surrounded by strange, electrically humming machinery, loose wires crackling with energy and devices alien to them. The eerie blue glow dominated nearly every surface of the walls, lending the place an unnerving quality.

“Touch nothing,” Rachel commanded. “We don’t know whether it’s dangerous, and trust me – we don’t want to find out.”

The further the crew went into the airship, the greater their unease became. The path was too straightforward and too devoid of threats to be coincidental, and Phineas noted as much. “The side rooms are locked, we are encountering precisely zero resistance, no security whatsoever. We had a harder time getting into the lift than trudging on ahead. Rachel, do you know what this feels like?”

“I do,” Rachel responded. “We’re being led on.”

“Precisely,” Phineas confirmed. “I can’t help but feel that we’re walking into a trap.”

Rachel nodded. “Okay fellas, here’s the deal: Anything moves and isn’t one of us,” she paused and closed her eyes. “Fire at will.”

“Are you sure, Rachel?” Phineas asked.

“I am. I will not endanger the safety of my crew by walking into a trap unprepared. If we must shoot, we’ll shoot. And that’s the end of it, understood?”

“Aye, captain,” Phineas replied.

The five stepped into a large circular room dominated by an enormous metal door at its end. Around the room were various screens with different readings and statistics that no one in the crew could understand. Above, devices and gizmos crackled with electricity ready to be harnessed and at the end of the room, tied to a pole was...

“Javier!”  Rachel exclaimed as she ran towards her brother.

Javier lifted his gaze and wheezed, “Behind you!”

Rachel turned in time to see the man coming from behind her. She jumped sideways, narrowly avoiding the discharge of an arc rifle. She tumbled on the floor, deftly unholstered  her weapon and fired at her attacker. The large caliber bullets ricocheted off of an energy barrier surrounding the interloper.

“Incoming!” Burton yelled as he hoisted his auto-cannon. Milton lifted her weapon and together they opened fire. The weapons’ firepower was overwhelming, each shell being ejected with thunderous violence, raining hellfire upon the unseen enemy.

As Milton and Burton fired, Phineas slid towards Rachel. “Are you alright?” He asked worriedly.

“I am. Keep firing, he’s got a shield!” She ordered and trained her rifle upon her opponent.

Phineas and Emmy added their own firepower to the leaden torrent aimed at the corner of the room, the detonations of their firearms drowned by the thunderous roaring of Milton and Burton’s heavy guns. A cloud of metallic dust lifted from the end of the room as bullets impacted against the attacker and were shattered to pieces, obscuring the figure Rachel’s crew focused their fire upon.

From the cloud erupted a powerful energy surge which pushed everyone backwards, making them fall to the floor. Burton accidentally fired at the ceiling, unleashing a shower of sparks upon the crew. The molten rain burned through the exo-suits’ outer layers, singing the crew’s skin.

Phineas struggled back to his feet only to be hurled backwards by another energy pulse. Air exploded from his lungs as he was smashed against the wall of the room. He tried to move but was unable to – his exo-suit was magnetically attached to the metal behind him.

From the cloud of metallic dust emerged a figure wearing a suit of armor unlike anything Phineas had ever seen. It was similar to an exo-suit, but its metallic pieces were lambent with electrical energy emanating from the two coils atop its power backpack. Its user wore no helmet, revealing the self-satisfied, grinning expression of the attacker.

 “Armand, you bastard!” Phineas exclaimed, struggling to set himself loose. “Release us, coward!”

Armand Lowenstoft laughed under his breath. “Why would I, Phineas, when you have –once again- so kindly delivered yourself to me?”

“What the hell are you talking about? Release me, craven!”

“My, oh my, such vitriol is unbecoming of a civilized first-mate. Tell me, how does the good captain of the  Terminus Est  fare? In good health I hope?”

“Please Armand, there’s no reason to be snide,” Rachel uttered through gritted teeth. “Is there any point to this reunion, or did you merely miss our company?”

“Ah, captain Sternritter. The constant thorn in my rear finally brought me to heel. I must say I am disappointed in your progress. I expected you to be here sooner. Tell me, did it trouble you to butcher my men?”

“Only as much as it has troubled you to butcher countless innocents!” She retorted.

“Oh but it has troubled me, Rachel. I am a man of peace, sadly pushed to violent actions by... Unpalatable company,” he chuckled under his breath. “As your good brother may attest to.”

“You are a madman,” Javier groaned weakly. “A traitor, and a liar.”

“Why Javier, I feel honored. Those are quite the accolades coming from you, all things considered. After all, I am not the one who left his little sister behind on an ashen wasteland was I?” Rachel’s brother said nothing, he merely glared at Armand. “I thought as much.”

“Rachel, listen. He plans to unleash another Pulse, he wants to burn humanity away!”

“Me, Javier?” Armand said in a mocking tone. “You wound me. I merely pursue the betterment of mankind through superior technology. Captain Sternritter, consider this: Who’s more likely to know how to operate this magnificent vessel, me, a humble Anglian entrepreneur, or him, an Electrian  purebred?”

“Don’t listen to him, Rachie! I locked him out of the control room – there’s no way he can open it!”

Armand laughed softly. “Even in defeat, your sibling is a compulsive liar, captain Sternritter. I overheard your conversation, you were correct to assume I’ve been leading you on towards this not-quite-fortuitous encounter.”

“Why, what do you want with us?” Rachel asked.

“With you, nothing. In fact, four members of your crew are irrelevant to me. I am after good Phineas.”

Phineas’ eyes narrowed. “Why me?”

“My boy, please! Use that noggin’ of yours for once in your life. Think! What was necessary to get this ship off the ground?”

The first-mate glared at Armand, and then realization dawned upon him. “My blood! You want my blood!”

Armand’s lips curled into a satisfied grin. “Precisely, Phineas.”

“Wait, how did you ever know that my blood could open the vault in the first place?” Phineas asked, feeling his heart rate growing quicker.

“Well, at first I dismissed the glaring similarities, but the longer I saw you, Phineas, the resemblances became uncanny. I used to think that the key to the old world was Rachel and the trinket she used to wear around her neck, but after much deliberation it wasn’t her, but you.”

Phineas felt the blood on his face draining away. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Armand laughed mockingly. “Please, Phineas, I think you know quite well what I am talking about, don’t you,” he paused and cruelly added, “Grandson of Corvin?”

The first-mate’s eyes widened. “Javier told you who I am?”

“Javier? Pah! This mewling degenerate couldn’t tell the reality of your ascendancy even when it quite literally spat on his face! I am the one who brought you to him, I am the one who knew who you were!” He walked towards Phineas and knelt in front of him. “And do you want to know how I knew? It’s quite easy, really – Granpappy himself told me!”

A pit formed in Phineas’ stomach, a dreadful emptiness drawing all feeling away. “You lie!” he uttered.

“Do I? Contingency protocol Alpha-Sigma-Sigma-Eta-Omicron-Lambda-Epsilon, a code reserved only for the highest of Electrian  hierarchs. Known only by two people, in fact: The military leader of the nation, Javier Sternritter, and its intellectual ruler, none other than Corvin Archibald!”

“Cease your spurious utterances!” Phineas spat. “Javier killed my grandfather, he told Rachel as much?”

“Hah! And you believed him? Truly, your naïveté is impossible to underestimate. Do you believe that you were the only survivors of the old world? Do you think that only your bunker harbored life after the Shattering? Look around you, Phineas and Rachel! The Spire itself is a relic of the old world – the catalyst of the new age to come! The Spire is the lock and you are the key.”

“Hey, Armand!”

Armand turned at the source of the voice. “Emil? You are alive?”

Emmy held a blower aimed at Armand, and through a grin he uttered, “Consider this my resignation!” The blower’s projectile sailed towards Armand and erupted as it collided against the shield around him. The explosion echoed inside the room, but once the dust cleared, Armand stood unharmed.

“I am disappointed Emil,” he mocked, “I expected better things from you.”

“And I didn’t expect you to cast me away as a soiled rag, yet here we are, are we?”

“Indeed, how unfortunate. Lucky for us, there’s a quick solution.” He lifted the arc rifle and fired at Emmy. The one-armed man twitched as a terrible electrical current coursed through him. “I set my weapon to its lowest setting, Emil, enough to cause terrible pain, but not enough to kill.” He fired again, and Emmy screamed in agony as his insides were seared by the energy. “Not quickly, at least.” He fired the weapon again and thin wisps of steam started coming from Emmy’s body. “Truly, Emil, what did you expect to accomplish with your piece of archaic weaponry?”

Emmy coughed violently, and in a rasping voice he uttered, “To distract you.”

“Distract me? To what purpose?”

“This!” Rachel exclaimed as she jammed her rifle between the electrical prongs of his armor’s power pack.

Armand turned around quickly and thrust his hand forward to release a shockwave towards Rachel, but nothing happened. “What did you do!” He exclaimed as a loud hum started to come from the closed circuit of the backpack. “Get it off me, get it off he!” He cried, trying to remove the backpack as the hum grew in pitch.

“You don’t know squat about electricity, Armand! Do you know what happens when you short a circuit?”

“WHAT?”

“DOWN!”  Rachel dropped to the floor moments before the power pack overloaded and exploded violently, smearing what used to be Armand on the floor, walls and ceiling of the room.

Phineas fell to his knees as the energy keeping him on the wall dissipated. He wiped at his face and grimaced as his hand came back crimson. “That’s what happens,” he uttered derisively as he made his way towards his captain. “Rachel, are you okay?”

“I am,” she said, extending her hand. Phineas took it and helped her to her feet. “Thank you, first-mate.  Huh, that was gruesome.”

Phineas shrugged dismissively. “Such are the consequences of playing with a power he didn’t understand.” Phineas gasped as he remembered, “Emmy!”

Together they ran towards the downed man and quickly removed his helmet. Rachel patted his cheek. “Emmy? Emmy! Answer me, that’s an order!”

Emmy groaned. “Captain...”

“Emmy!” She exclaimed.

He coughed, “Come closer, please.”

“What is it, my friend?” She muttered solemnly.

Emmy lifted his prosthetic arm and said, “Captain... I can’t feel my arm!”

“To hell with you Emmy!”

“Come on man!” Phineas exclaimed. “That’s low! Here we were all worried about you and that’s what you pull?”

“Apologies, first-mate, but I saw my chance and I took it.”

“Rachel, can we still eject him from an airlock?”

“Of course, Phineas, once we are back home.”

“If you idiots have concluded your bickering,” Javier barked as he struggled back to his feet. “Need I remind you that there’s a Pulse charging up and almost ready to be fired?”

Rachel and Phineas stared at each other. “Damn it, he’s right,” Rachel admitted reluctantly.

“Of course I am, Rachie! And only he can open the control room.”

Phineas sighed. “The grandson of Corvin,” he scoffed. “Look what that name has wrought.”

“Does it bloody matter?” Javier asked exasperated. “We must enter the control room, now before it’s too late!”

Rachel removed her helmet and turned towards Phineas, her expression pleading. “Phineas, you know I would never ask anything like this from you, but –“

“I know, I know,” he interrupted her, sighing in defeat. “That’s the lock, and I am the key,” he quoted Armand as he stepped towards the door. Beside it he saw a pedestal and he walked towards it. “Does this open the doors?”

“It does,” Javier replied. “Place your thumb on the plate.”

“Like this – AGH!” A needle pricked the pad of his finger, and the doors slid open, revealing the insides of the control room. Phineas watched in awe as the advanced Electrian  machinery revealed itself.

“Step aside!” Javier barked, pushing Phineas aside and stepping onto a podium at the center of the room. He began quickly tapping buttons. “Yes!” He exclaimed triumphantly as a transparent screen above him displayed a dreadful message: PULSE ARMED.

“Javier, what are you doing?” Rachel asked, aiming her pistol at her brother.

Javier chuckled under his breath as he glanced over his shoulder. “I am finishing what I started two hundred years ago, Rachie. Then, the Pulse was imperfect, it was hastily launched. Now,” he said, spreading his arms to his sides. “It’s ready to fulfill its purpose!”

“And what’s that purpose?”

“A new start for mankind. A proper discharge will fix Earth’s messed up magnetic field, and my people back at Electria shall reap the benefits of our actions here.”

“Your people back at Electria?” Rachel asked. “What about the pilots of the smaller aircraft?”

“No pilots, no crew, Rachel. This vessel is fully automated, its defense systems are drones, but it doesn’t matter. What matters, Rachel, is that you and I stand at the brink of something great!”

“You and me?” She asked gingerly.

“Of course! You and I, Rachie, brother and sister shall rule upon mankind as it enters a new era!”

Tears formed in Rachel’s eyes as she cocked the hammer of her pistol. “I’m sorry, Javier, but I can’t let you do that.”

Javier’s expression became dark. “Indeed, Rachel? What a disappointment. I thought more of you.”

“Shut up.”

“You are pointing a gun at me, and stalling the true progress of humanity. Why? Because of your spurious ideals?”

“Shut up!”

“You are just like our father, weak, cowardly, a craven who refuses to see the importance of a new beginning!”

“SHUT UP!”

“Face it, Rachel! This Anglia of yours is as corrupt as our old governments used to be! It’s a world rife with imbalances, misery and pain, and we  can change it!”

“I won’t let you kill any more people!”

Javier scoffed cruelly. “Nonsense! You are weak, Rachel, you won’t shoot me, you can’t  shoot me! I’m your –“ He was interrupted by a thunderclap, his eyes widened as he took his hands to his chest. When Javier removed them, they came back crimson. He lifted his gaze towards his sister. “Rachie...” he wheezed before he crumpled onto the floor.

Rachel turned around. Behind her stood Phineas, his gun smoking from a recent shot. “What did you do?”

“What had to be done, Rachel. Hate me if you must, but mankind won’t die. Not today.”

Rachel walked towards her brother and knelt before him. “Why, Javier?” she asked tearfully. “Why wouldn’t you listen?” She closed Javier’s eyes and slowly stood up. “I don’t hate you, Phineas, but I wish there had been another way.”

 “So do I,” her first-mate uttered, holstering his pistol. Phineas walked towards the control console and glanced at the options on it. He pressed a button and the crystal display changed its message to: PULSE ABORTED. He turned towards Rachel and asked, “Now what?”

“What do you mean?” She asked.

“Well Rachel, we now stand at a crossroads. This button,” Phineas said, “Disables the shield around the airship, opening it up for an attack.”

“Do it,” she blurted out. “I don’t care, I just want all of this gone.”

“Wait, let me finish. There’s another choice.”

“Huh?”

“We leave this airship tethered to the Spire and let Anglian scientists study it, we can restore electricity, science, medicine and wellbeing back to mankind. That’s your choice, Rachel.”

“Mine?” she asked weakly. “Why mine?”

“Because you are the one who has both lost and risked everything to come here, Rachel. Because you are our  captain.”

“So that’s the choice? Either I destroy this monument to evil, or I keep it around so that the Pulse can happen again?”

“Rachel, if you ask me, mankind deserves another chance. There are both good and bad things, I admit as much, but the bad things don’t necessarily outweigh the good ones. We have been given a new opportunity to thrive, and the choice is yours.”

Rachel took a deep, shuddering breath. She looked back at her injured crewmates and saw Milton and Burton helping Emmy back to his feet. She sighed and said, “You are right, Phineas. We deserve a second chance. Now, does this thing have any communications systems?”

“It does, this button here should engage its outer speakers.”

“Put me through, please.” Phineas nodded and activated the airship’s speakers. “This is captain Rachel Sternritter of the Imperator-class flying fortress one-zero-seven Hoperider .   The Spire and the airship are ours – I repeat, cease your fire, my good Anglians. The battle is won.” She nodded towards Phineas and he closed the communication’s channel.

“It will be worth it, Rachel, I promise” Phineas uttered.

“I sincerely hope so, Phineas. Hmm.”

“What is it?”

“Does this thing have a visual feed of the outside?”

Phineas blinked rapidly. “It should, why?”

“Activate it, first-mate.”

“Aye captain,” Phineas replied, pressing another of the buttons.

A full view of Anglia came on the crystal display, showcasing the extension of the damage caused by Armand and Javier. “There’s a lot to be rebuilt,” Rachel uttered.

“There is, Rachel. But everything will be alright, you’ll see.”

“Yes,” she agreed, locking her hand together with Phineas. “I’m sure you are right.”

They watched the skyvessels  hovering above the city and together they savored their first true taste of that wonderful sensation: Hope.

The End.

Epilogue

 Phineas stared idly at the electrical and mechanical upgrades of the Hoperider , watching the various machines controlling its steam valves and pressure systems. Place’s lonely now that no crew is needed,  he thought as he walked towards the bridge. It’s too large for the two of us.

As he entered the skvyessel’s bridge he saw Rachel leaning over a fly chart. She lifted her eyes the moment she heard him coming in. “Ah, Phineas! Good to see you, I’ve got great news!”

Phineas smiled. “Glad to see you too, Rachel. I’ve got correspondence.”

“Letters!” Rachel exclaimed, staring at the bundle under Phineas’ arm.

“I thought you said you had news.”

“Pah, those can wait. I want to hear from our friends! Don’t you?”

“I do too,” Phineas admitted, dropping the bundle on the table.

“Let’s see,” Rachel said as she started reading through the stack of letters. “Oh, Riker’s doing well for himself, seems like he was recently promoted to Admiral!”

“Good for him, he was always a great helmsman.”

“And he climbed the ranks really quickly. Two years and he’s already an Admiral!”

“Well, he did lead the assault against the Electrian  airship, remember?”

“True, what more merit could you want?” She took another of the letters. “Let’s see, my god, Phineas, look!”

Phineas took the picture Rachel handed to him and whistled. “Damn! I admit I’m relieved, I thought Milton and Burton’s daughter would end up looking like him!”

“Oh, shut up, Phineas! But you’re right, lucky her, she takes after her mother.”

“Indeed. Does she have a name?” Phineas asked.

Rachel’s mouth split into an ear-to-ear grin. “She does, they humble me.”

“Her name is Rachel?”

“Mhm!”

“That’s really nice of them. I’m glad they finally settled down.”

Rachel chuckled. “They deserved it after so many years on the Cloudsurfer.  I do wonder, what did Milton see in Burton?”

“Wanna know?”

“Sure!”

“Well, er... She said he didn’t use big guns to compensate for a small... you know...”

Rachel blushed and exclaimed, “Phineas!”

“What? She’s the one who said it, not me!”

“Sure thing. Alright let’s see this one, oh, look! Anselm and Elisa’s association is gaining a lot of traction and look, here’s Joachim beside them!”

“That’s great!” Phineas exclaimed. “Anglia needs more fellas like them, looking after the workers of the Nadir.”

“True,” Rachel agreed. “There’s still a lot of work left to be done, but it seems they’re getting the attention of upper Anglia.”

Phineas scoffed. “They better! Without them, there’d be no more Anglia at all.”

“Indeed. They have really noble goals, those two.”

“That they do. What about Emmy?” Phineas asked.

“I thought you hated him?”

“Well, he did betray us and caused the destruction of the Cloudsurfer, ” Phineas sighed. “But I don’t hate him. He’s really done quite well for himself too.”

“Anglian-Electrian Ambassador – talk about rags to riches.”

“He’s the perfect man for the job, if you ask me, considering he’s seen what both sides are capable of.”

“Indeed. I’m only worried about that group he’s talking about, ‘The Purists,’ seems like they’re gaining a lot of political traction on Electria.”

“Well, if anyone can handle their delirium of grandeur, that’s Emmy.”

“Why?”

“He has an even bigger delirium!” Phineas exclaimed. “Well, what is your news, Rachel?”

“Oh, that! Well, see this fly chart over there? I’ve cross-referenced some of the coordinates we found in the Electrian  airship, and I think I’ve pinpointed the location.”

“The location of what?”

Rachel lifted her eyes and stared intensely at Phineas. “The bunker where your grandfather holed up.”

Phineas felt a pit in his stomach. “Rachel, you didn’t have to –“

“Phineas, please,” she interrupted him. “These last two years have been quite hectic, but no matter how busy we get, do you think I don’t notice the sadness in your eyes whenever you see Electrian  technology?”

“Yes, but –“

“Let me finish! Phineas, you were by my side throughout the years when I believed Javier to be alive and look how that turned out!”

Phineas folded his arms and laughed. “We nearly caused the end of the world.”

“Keyword being nearly,  Phineas. Besides, think about it! We’d explore parts of the world we never knew existed, we can even find more survivors of the Shattering! Besides, the upgrades to the Hoperider  are completed, its systems are nearly fully automated now.”

“Well, Rachel,” Phineas said, “If they are fully automated, truth  is you don’t exactly need me on board.”

“Phineas, don’t be silly. They are nearly  fully automated. They need two people to operate, such as, say, a captain and her first-mate. If you would want  to come, of course.”

A smile crept to Phineas’ face. “You would have me, a stubborn, hotheaded, irresponsible first-mate aboard your ship?”

“Phineas,” she said, gently caressing his face. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” She leaned in and softly locked her lips on Phineas’, lingering momentarily in a tight embrace.

When the moment ended, Phineas uttered, “Well captain, count me on board.”

“To hell and back?”

Phineas smiled, saluted, and exclaimed, “Aye, aye, captain!”

“Then start the rotors, first-mate! Signal the Spire and inform them of our destination!”

“Where to, captain?”

“Towards the horizon!”

More Books By The Author

I hope you had fun in this world. Here are some other books to check out:

The Shattering: An Ashen Wasteland Series (The Prequel)

Remnants Of Electria : An Ashen Wasteland Series (Book 1)

About The Author

Tim was born and bred in the Sunshine State of Florida, where I still live today. Growing up when he wasn’t at the beach I would have lots of adventures in my backyard, mainly trying to survive in the aftermath of an Alien Invasion. Now I spend my days putting my imagination into books, so everyone who wants to, can join me in the world in my head.

When I’m not writing I usually spend my days on the beach, or  reading with my cat Sleepy.

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