Chapter 4

As fire, smoke, and ash quickly began to fill the air, Levi’s vision faded and he was left momentarily swaying in the street. When his sight returned, he found himself standing on the large patio of a villa situated in eastern France.

The year was 1918 and the war actually starting to feel winnable. It had been difficult going the last few years as many of the powerful nations of the world clashed in the first truly world-spanning fight of the modern age. For the first two years of the war, the German and Austro-Hungarian empires had held the clear advantage as war swept across the face of Europe. Their weaponry, equipment, and tactics far outstripped anything found elsewhere and it was speculated that the war would be short and fall in favor of the Central Powers.

It was during these early years that the dreaded Tyr-class airships began finding their way from Anchor and onto the battlefield. Anchor, a colony world granted limited autonomy by the German Empire a decade before the beginning of the war, was well-known for its resource-rich expanses and this was a great boon. Separated from Key by all but a few world gates, Anchor was an impervious stronghold of industrial might and Germany wasn’t afraid to use it.

The Tyr-class airships were massive barges, easily dwarfing the short-range battlebags being used by many of the Allied nations. Its air lift balloons were completely surrounded by protective plating with the main deck resting on top. This deck acted as the firing platform for some of the largest guns ever placed in the air, designed purely to bring down rival vessels in a hail of massive shells. Hanging down between the two iron balloons was the various decks that housed supplies, crew and quarters, and more weapon platforms for defense from attacks from below and facilitate easy bombardment of ground targets. This design allowed the undercarriage to act as the ballast, or balancing force, within the balloon system, making it very stable in the air.

Besides its balloons, however, the Tyr-class airships were the first vessels to rely heavily of gigantic propellers for vertical and horizontal movement. At the time, this was a true marvel of engineering. Refined sap had not yet come to dominate the fuel industry and the German ships were required to use more traditional means of power production. As such, they were required to land frequently to be refueled. This, however, was only a mild setback in the awesome strength these ships presented during the onset of the war.

By the time Levi Wyman joined the United States Naval Air Service, at only at the age of twenty, stories of the Tyr’s destructive capacity were well known throughout the ranks. Germany had an undefeatable new ship, the new recruits were often told, and it would be their job to defeat it. The American troops, including Levi, were ready and eager to do just that. That was early in 1917.

A year had passed since those days of unconquerable hope. A hard year. Some of the aerial battles he had been a part of were just like the traditional sea battles his father had told him about: hulking, slow-moving ships firing their long guns at enormous ranges, hoping to bring the enemy to the ground. But others had been more like the pirate stories he read in the paperback serials of his youth. The smaller airships would often close to within rifle range, not in an attempt to down the ship, but to take it. Airships, unlike their waterborne counterparts, were somewhat easily repaired and, by 1918, were in high demand. As such, it often made more tactical sense to board and seize the ship and its captured crew than to down it and hope that you could build another one faster than the other side could.

Following basic training, Levi had found himself posted on one of the fastest solid-frame airships in the service of the United States: the USS Tallahassee. A relatively small vessel, the Tallahassee was able to maneuver like a dream when compared to the larger battlebarges of the day. This was mainly thanks to the revolutionary sap engine that it operated on, which gave it large power reserves and decreased the need for refueling. Because of this, the Tallahassee and other ships in its class were often grouped together in hunting parties with the goal of simply doing as much damage to the enemy as possible. And so they did.

For the next year, Levi crossed over onto many German airship decks and killed at close range with pistol and knife. He had also manned the fantastically modern water-cooled machine guns that spit bullets at blinding speeds. And he had witnessed, more than once, the order to have men thrown overboard and had listened to them scream as they fell. It was, however, his attack group’s most recent battle that found him in the villa.

After almost five days without any enemy contacts, the crew of the Tallahassee was starting to relax. That night, however, as they all helped themselves to the daily grub, a small American battlebag descended upon their moored position and brought the latest news. A major ground battle was being fought just a short trip to the north, involving thousands upon thousands of troops. Scouts had located a Tyr airship incoming on the battle’s position and command feared that it would be used to pound the ground units to pieces. Their flotilla was to disembark at first light and engage the enemy vessel before it could do its work.

The deck was quiet as the Tallahassee led the other four ships north. They had faced many things together, including ships much larger than themselves. They had even participated in bringing a Tyr down just a few weeks ago with the aid of two larger gunships. They had never, however, attempted anything like that on their own. But it was what they had been called to do a year ago during basic. They were there to defeat the undefeatable.

As the sun slowly crested the horizon, the hunting group was nearly in position. The battle below had begun anew as light had filled the area. Mortar fire rang through the area as the two opposing forces fired upon on another with reckless abandon. Only moments after arriving, the forward observer spotted the Tyr.

The sight of such a large thing moving through the air so simply was always awe-inspiring, regardless of how many the airmen had seen. Not much time was given to gawking, though, as the Tyr quickly opened fire on them once they fell within range of its long guns. Relying on speed and maneuverability, the flotilla split, spun, and whirled in an attempt to dodge the incoming shell fire as they grew ever closer to the enemy ship.

The poets of old could not have scripted a more awesome scene than the one that took place that day; battle upon battle, men killing men in both the sky and on the ground, each conflict separate and yet intertwined all at once. After two excruciating hours of combat, the Tyr’s fuel and armament supplies went up, shattering the very sky in an explosion seldom seen by the likes of mankind as colossal pieces of debris rained down upon the battlefield below. Their victory, however, was not without cost. Two of the flotilla ships had been completely destroyed in smaller, but no less mighty, explosions. Their crews didn’t even have enough time to abandon ship, it happened so quickly. Two more were wounded but not crippled; they would be able to make it back to dock for repairs. The Tallahassee found itself between these two categories.

Despite common belief, airship balloons were highly resistant to small arms fire. Since the gases within were kept at a pressure just barely above that of the atmosphere, a bag riddled with bullets would still allow days of functionality. Even medium-sized rounds weren’t much of a danger. The long guns of a Tyr, however, were something entirely different.

The Tallahassee, following the events of the initial battle, was missing a fair amount of its main lift balloon and was listing dangerously. At first, the crew thought they would be able to make it to dock for repairs as well. That was until the main engine gave out. Although the engineers gave it a valiant effort, they were not able to restart the life-giving engines. And so the airship fell.

It wasn’t a quick fall by any means; not one that would overly injure anyone. It was fast enough, however, to require the crew to hold onto something and kept them from doing little else including attempting to abandon the ship. It only took a few moments for the Tallahassee to fall into the middle of the still-raging land battle. The surviving crew quickly gathered on the deck, rifles, pistol, knives, or anything else they could use as a weapon in hand, as they tried to formulate a plan.

Only a brief moment past before mortar shells began to pummel the wreckage and the men knew they had to move. In what was later to be considered an overly courageous act deserving of medals, a group of soldiers had moved from their shelter to provide covering fire for the downed airmen as they made their way across the no-man’s-land and into the trenches of the Allied soldiers. Three days passed for Levi and his compatriots there in the trenches, fighting alongside the ground-pounders, before the battle began to wane and they were able to be extracted. For their heroism and sacrifice, such as it was, they were moved from the front and placed as a small French town for some rest and relaxation.

“Hey Levi,” Will called. “Come over here and have a seat. Don’t need to be doing guard duty over there all by your lonesome. I’ll even let you have some of this wine I found here.”

Levi smiled and shook his head.

“No thanks. I don’t need a headache while I’m taking your money tonight.”

“Ha. That’s not happening two days in a row. You may be decent at cards, but I’m on to your tricks now. I’ll be getting my money back and then some.”

“Whatever you say.”

The now-empty bottle of wine went flying past Levi’s head and off the patio to shatter on the road below.

“So now you’re trying to kill me to get your money? That’s embarrassing, Will.”

“Bah. You’re lucky I’m drunk or that would’a hit you right in the head.”

“With your aim, I wasn’t too worried. That’s why we make you stay down with the engines, after all,” Levi said with a chuckle.

“You gun boys are all alike, coming down on us engine folk. Without us you wouldn’t even be able to fly. Then where would you be? Back on your daddy’s farm, that’s where.”

Levi chuckled again, shaking his head. It was a common argument Will liked to get into when he was even only mildly inebriated. It was almost like a play by now, with most of the crew knowing the words. That evening, however, Levi wasn’t really in the mood.

“Yes yes, all hail the engine gods. Go inside, man. Get some rest. You know they won’t leave us here forever.”

“You’re right, of course,” Will said, struggling to his feet. “I shall retire. Thank goodness the French have comfortable beds. Later on, Levi.”

“Later on, Will.”

Smiling to himself, Levi looked out across the cozy little town and its amber glow as the sun was just beginning to succumb to the horizon. When the villa behind him exploded, he was somewhat caught off guard.

Thrown to the ground, he was instantly showered in debris from the crumbling house. Coughing, he rolled over on his back and looked back at the explosion. An entire quarter of the house was now little more than rubble, the second floor slowly sprinkling tiles and shattered wood down upon the first. He struggled to see if any of the men within – all members of the Tallahassee’s crew – were moving. Though he held his breath, he didn’t see anything.

He did hear something, however, taking place further down the hill in the town below. More explosions and the sound of gunfire. Struggling to his feet, he made to move toward the mansion before motion to his right caught his eye. Turning, he saw a number of German soldiers moving out of the nearby woods. Some were leveling their weapons in his direction. Panicked, he sprinted to the edge of the patio and jumped off as bullets pattered the concrete behind him. He fell a good ten feet to the ground below, rolling as he landed to avoid major injury. The impact hurt, but pain was secondary now. He has to figure out what was happening. Down the road, he saw a number of American troops setting up a defensive line. Pulling his pistol from the holster on his hip, he started running toward them. The Colt 1911 weighed heavy in his hands, his mind reeling at his surroundings.

“What’s going on?” he yelled as he neared the soldiers.

“We’re under attack. Move to the church down that way,” the commanding officer ordered, pointing with his rifle down the road behind them. “The townsfolk are gathering up there and they’ll need some help.”

Levi just stood there in the middle of the road for a moment, trying to absorb the man’s words. Air combat wasn’t like this. It was rarely this spontaneous. Ships usually knew the odds hours in advance of a battle, which was plenty of time to process everything. He didn’t know how the ground-pounders did it.

“Move. Now, soldier,” the commander said.

Nodding, Levi went past them and down the street, occasionally hearing their gunfire as he moved. The report of larger guns reached his ears, then; guns he knew very well. The darkening sky flashed to brilliance in a number of places as gunships fired off their roads at the town. The bombardment was sloppy, some tactical part of Levi’s mind told him as he forced himself to move. They were just random shots, falling wherever. This wasn’t about any sort of battle strategy; it was about causing confusion and terror. Unfortunately, Levi had to admit that it was doing its job rather well.

A number of shells began to fall close by and he was forced to stop and huddle down in the doorway of a rather substantial-looking stone building. As the explosions tore buildings and people asunder, his mind began to wander. He had never been on this end of a bombardment; had never seen the up-close effects of what it was they did. He was truly terrified, not so much by the prospect of death, but by the complete feeling of helplessness that the shelling invoked. There was nothing, whatsoever, that he could do to make this stop. That was the terrifying truth.

After a time, the shells stopped raining down on his area and so he hit the street again, eyes searching for the church he had been ordered to find. At first, he was sure the commander had pointed in the wrong direction. Only after a few more moments of searching did he notice the cross lying atop a pile of rubble. Holstering his weapon, he ran over to the debris. He really wished that he hadn’t.

What he saw was mortifying. Men, women, and children were strewn broken and scattered all around the area, only a few seeming to be fully intact. Three shells appeared to have hit the location in rapid succession. One had hammered directly into the church, sundering it to pieces. The other two had fallen in the lawn directly in front of the building, where people had been gathered waiting to move into within the shelter of the church. He walked like a blind man through the lawn, hoping to find someone alive. Much like the villa up on the hill, though, he found no such thing.

With no other option left to him, Levi had returned to the soldiers further up the road. They had taken the news of the church in stride, true soldiers, and continued to hold their position. Three waves of German troops tried to move down the road into the city, but Levi and the soldiers were able to hold them off. The fighting continued in pockets until well after midnight but it was obvious the Germans had no desire to actually take the town. They were just causing trouble.

Later that night, with his Colt pistol now resting empty at his hip, Levi had whipped the grim from his forehead with his sleeve and glanced at the commander beside him, who was doing something similar.

“I thought this place was supposed to be safe,” Levi said.

“As safe as a rabbit’s nest can be in a fox’s den.”

There was wisdom in that answer, he knew, but he wouldn’t discover it that night. He was too terribly tired. The following day, reinforcements arrived and relieved the men. This was a glorious thing, according to Levi, as he no longer had to dig graves for the dead. That was not part of the image of the Navy that had been painted in his head.

One day later, Levi and the few survivors from his original crew were pulled from the town and placed back in circulation. Two days after that, he was in the air once more in another hunting flotilla, looking to damage the enemy wherever they could. And one year after that, he participated in the invasion of Anchor and the war was eventually won.