Vickus Skycloud sat in place as the sky train ferried them to the outer fence of District One. The train ride today was smooth and the chatter of his fellow squad-mates filled the compartment while the city below whizzed by. If one looked ahead and behind they would see another unconnected train.
In the distance was the distant horizon with a sheet of heavy glass separating the wild outside from the pleasant air within. The evening sun was falling downwards on a world filled by water. He had seen land only once in his life and they were just passing by. The sight of rocks and dirt surrounded by the ocean was strange to him. He and his entire tribe had a rotated watch to see the spectacle that day. Everest, the last land colony.
The sirens began and the slowly metal shutters began to lower over the story tall glass. The citizens would now be requested to return to enter their local emergency shelters. There, the thick metal walls would prevent the worst of collateral damage should the attackers make it past the fence.
The Nimbula wasn't much. It was neither the largest of the city-ships nor the smallest. The Nimbula is full of hard-working people though. People who trained hard and worked hard to ensure that the city prospered and continued to fly so that they would never be at the mercy of the endless waters below.
Everest took no refugees and any city-ship that became water-bound never made it beyond three generations before it was sunk. The stories of sibling cities like The Ulsys, The Oasis, New Yorke, and many others. The majority was sunk by neither sabotage nor combat but something much worse.
Ignorance had sunk those ships. City-Ships were not simply metal and concrete attached to a balloon or engine. It was an interconnected system of many things that kept them afloat, powered, and stable. Solar and Wind power made up their sources of energy that powered the machines that helped grow food and purified water. A system that would collapse under its own weight had there been no specialists.
The Nimbula was well educated and its people well trained. So whoever was causing this alarm would regret the fact that they had targeted his tribe.
The train came to a slow stop and his squad disembarked. The young cheered and yelled. They only saw victory and the promise of vainglory.
Vickus smiled at their words. He was like that once. Until he was one of the last of his original squad. Now he half led and half ignored these brats. Captain Kardis was his old teammate and the only one he fully respected. Kardis gave him a cocky grin. That scarred and wrinkle face lit up. They were soldiers and they lived long enough to have a good chance to see tomorrow.
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The squad moved through the station and out into a special access hallway that would lead them to the fence. Discipline here took over as Kardis barked his orders and they fast-walked the few kilometers to the fence. The air thinned and the cold intensified as they reached the heavy breech doors that lead to the outside world.
Vickus adjusted his goggles and breather as he walked out into the frigid world. The air was howling today and it was lightly snowing as specks of ice flew around the fence. Engineers were busy chipping away at the ice to free up the mechanical defenses. Large ballista turrets that would fire big missiles of ice. Half log and half cone, they could pierce the hulls, engines, and balloons of enemy airships. Water was cheap but wood and metal were rare.
He walked up to a spot in-between ice-covered, metal parapets. The ice created an extra barrier to help preserve the outer shell of the ship but also tended to ice over the gaps left for soldiers to return fire.
Currently, there were four engineers chiseling away at the thick ice to open the gap as was standard procedures. The sound of metal spikes being hammered into ice-filled the air. They all stopped as they noticed Vickus approach them. They saw his cyan-colored sword on his collar and they all saluted.
White for initiates, green for privates, cyan for sergeants, and blue for captains.
Vickus made eye contact with all of them before pointing at his eyes and then out towards the open skies.
Their senior, pinned with a cyan hammer, saluted and replied. He spread his hands open and held them to his ears before using only to fingers to out from his mouth. Sky Rats. Most likely hoping to steal something.
Two full hands and then two fingers before he spread his hand out like he was holding a big ball. 12 balloons. Full hand and three fingers before he spread out only one hand and held it palm down while wiggling. 8 hover types.
The engineer saluted to finish his report. Vickus nodded and returned a sharp salute and returned to report.
Kardis nodded motioned for his men to remain on guard but could stand down for now. It wouldn't help for them to remain fully tense as muscles could cramp and whatnot.
If enemies boarded then it would be up to his squad to stop them. They had small steam guns that fired dense ice but it would boil down to melee. If they made it that is.
The sound of a massive THUNK broke the air followed by a thick whistling sound as the ice missile flew out and towards the sky rats floating upwards.
There was a second thunk in the distance. The Nimbula had twenty ballistas on each side of the ship. They could tilt up and down, making them great weapons while green engineers could ferry missiles to each turret. Only a small number of ships would ever reach them and usually, Sky Rats gave up before then.
Vickus simply leaned onto the iced hull and relaxed. If all went well then the sky rats would run. If it didn't then he would get to see how many of his squad-mates got to survive and earn their green marks. Vickus smiled in his breather. If the rats made it on-board then they would see the might of his men. Nimbus was full of well trained, eager soldiers dreaming of a gold pin. The pin of heroes.
He could almost pity them. Almost.