Arden-class Aircraft Carrier FES Aletha, The Seventh Fleet.
The Great Sea.
May 9th, 1427.
6:15 AM
Ruprecht and Evatyr are sitting in the ship’s ‘island’ looking at the sailors in their colorful uniforms running about as they prepare for another landing by one of the loud ‘planes’, as the Elysians called them. They looked to the distance, eyeing the new metal bird that looked different from the sleek ones they have seen on the massive vessel; it is larger, on the same par as the large ‘helicopter’ that transported them to the vessel.
The aircraft touched down on the ship and stopped at an unnatural speed, Ruprecht wondered how it could stop like that when it was moving so quickly when landing. These people kept surprising him with their advanced crafts and unexplainable tools which had no magical energy according to Evatyr, who graduated from the Imperial Magical Academy in the Holy Celestial Empire which produced some of the best mages the world has to offer.
Ruprecht took a deep breath, taking in the salty morning air of the sea. “Let’s go.”
Stepping on the aircraft and taking a seat, he looked at the metal ship through the aircraft’s window one last time before a voice interrupted his thought, seemingly out of nowhere.
“We’re ready to take off, everyone. Wear your seatbelts.”
A guide on the aircraft assisted the two Azurian how to use the seatbelts while Ambassador Anderson was already strapped. The aircraft moved slowly over to the front of the ship before coming to a stop, a peculiar clicking sound can be heard under the cabin.
“Catapult’s locked. We’re taking off on 3, 2, 1.” The pilot on the intercom announced calmly.
The guiding sailor outside gave them a salute, crouching down and pointing his arm towards the bow of the ship. “On the way!” The pilot said over the intercom.
The catapult launch sunk Azurians into their seats as the aircraft quickly accelerated off the deck, causing Evatyr to yelp in surprise.
“Oh! That was a strong take off!” Ruprecht said.
After the surprise from the take-off set down, Ambassador Anderson was the first to speak to calm down the Azurians. “They can’t take off with such a short runway, so they need to throw this thing so it can pick up speed.”
“Can this thing not take off directly like your ‘helicopter’?” Evatyr asked him.
“Doing so would’ve consumed a lot of fuel, Miss.” He pointed towards the wing outside. “By using the ship to help the aircraft take-off, we can save on fuel and thus extend the range of our aircrafts.” He explained.
“I see… “
----------------------------------------
Southern City Airport, Arlette. United Federation of Elysia.
2:00 PM
Ruprecht and Evatyr looked at the city down below in awe, dozens if not hundreds, perhaps even thousands of multi-storey buildings stretched out as far as the eye can see. As the aircraft approached the airbase, the pair could make out thousands of people going about as they continued their busy lives despite having gone through a historically large storm, a testament to the sturdiness of Elysian’s infrastructure. There were also strange long wagons traveling on a pair of iron bars, transporting immense amounts of cargo at speed unthinkable for horse wagons that he was accustomed to seeing.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
After a relatively rough landing of the ‘plane’ on the massively long runway, the two disembarked and were greeted by several other vehicles that the Elysians called ‘cars’. A woman is waiting for them, standing next to the largest car in the middle.
“Greetings, I’m Ellen Mary, one of the President’s assistants. He has given me the duty of escorting you safely to your meeting with the Department of State.” The woman said as she slid out a smile, easing both Ruprecht and Evatyr and giving them a sense of security despite being in a very alien environment for them.
“Very well, lead the way.”
As the vehicle rolled along the main road to the city center, the exotic sight caught their eyes. Electrical lights and signs at junctions provided guidance as well as enforcing the strict traffic rules on the many other vehicles on the road. Most of the road traffic is not occupied by the ‘cars’ like the ones that they are riding on but much bigger ones with more wheels. Ruprecht recalls that the Ambassador’s guards also traveled on similar vehicles, although they were in the same camouflage paint pattern as well as model in contrast to the many different sizes and looks that the ones going about in the capital city.
Many establishments lined the streets: a store with a cart drawn on a sign outside, identifying itself as a grocery store. Beside them stood a clothing store, its garms displayed proudly on the glass front of the establishment. They then passed by a rail station, the same long wagons they had seen earlier from the aircraft came to a stop, opening its door as people poured in and out before quickly picking up speed and leaving for the next station, Ruprecht assumed that this is how most people get around the city judging by how busy the traffic is on the main road that he is traveling on.
What’s even stranger to the Azurians is the architectural aspect of the massive metropolis. Instead of the usual disconnect seen on the larger buildings in Anzuri, the massive buildings here are interconnected by bridges above the street, allowing people to move between buildings without ever touching the ground. Besides a few flower shops, the only place he noticed with large amounts of trees on the ground would be the public parks that the vehicle passed by as it made its trip to the Presidential Building. For the Azurians who are accustomed to seeing vast fields of wheat and lightly built up areas, this was a dizzying environment to take in.
Ruprecht take a break from the overwhelming sight and cleared his throat. “Excuse me, Miss Mary?”
“Yes? How may I help you?” She answered, snapping to attention from her conversation with Ambassador Anderson.
“Is it normal in your country to have so many people in a city?” He asked.
Ellen adjusted her glasses. “Our country is an exceptionally urbanized country even by our world standard, up to 80% of the land in our country could be considered urbanized. There are 180 million people within the Federation so that’s around 144 million people within several cities,” She gave Ruprecht additional information papers in her briefcase. “We’re expecting Arlette and Arden City to merge soon due to the expansion, bringing the combined population of the metropolis to 85 million people.”
The mind boggling number shocked Ruprecht, Anzuri only has a million people, which is probably equivalent to a smaller district in Arlette. After Ruprecht finished looking through the documents, he looked over to Evatyr. She was diligently writing down reports, rotating between writing and making rough sketches of the bustling metropolis before her with a pencil she borrowed from Miss Ellen.
He tapped her shoulder, attracting her attention. “You might need this.”
“Thank you.” Evatyr clipped the documents, making a mental note to read in her free time.
Ruprecht returned to looking at the scenery outside as the car continued to move forward, mumbling to himself. “How much wealth do these Elysians have to possibly afford all this infrastructure?”