Negotiation

"Lieutenant Colonel Robert, a message from the command ship says we are to raise our alert level to Grade Two."

The captains of Great Britain's steam airships were generally lieutenant colonels, while the captains of large surface warships were colonels.

After all, no matter how large a steam airship was or how many personnel it carried, it could not compare to a large surface warship. Colonel Brown was a special case.

"An unidentified flying object?"

"Has Colonel Brown gone blind? And General George is letting him make a fuss?"

Lieutenant Colonel Robert took the mana telegram, displeasure written across his face. Grade Two alert was not something to be declared lightly. Everyone aboard had to be mobilized and put on combat readiness. During every drill, the boiler workers were exhausted to the point of passing out, and several had even worked themselves to death.

Afterward, the boilers had to be shut down one by one and the ash cleared out. It was a massive undertaking.

To Robert and most British soldiers, North America was the Great Britain Empire's backyard. There simply were no enemies in these skies capable of threatening them. In the entire world, only France and the German Federation possessed steam airship technology—not even Tsarist Russia had it.

And even they could not possibly transport something as massive as a steam airship across the entire Atlantic to North America without a sound. If they had that capability, they could have sent an entire army straight to the enemy capital.

"Sir, are we making combat preparations?"

"Do you intend to disobey orders?"

Lieutenant Colonel Robert cursed, "Idiot," then instinctively moved to the porthole and looked outside. Beyond the thick glass lay dense leaden clouds. It looked as though a torrential downpour would begin before long.

"Send a telegram to