The enormous propellers carved chunks of mist from the leaden clouds, while the engines erupted with scorching steam. The immense aerial fortress, the Ivan the Terrible, drifted through the skies like a mechanical leviathan.
A strange coil-shaped device was mounted atop it. Whenever it touched the clouds, brilliant arcs of electricity occasionally burst forth.
The Ivan the Terrible was the pinnacle of Tsarist Russian military industry, achieved with French assistance. Known as a Sky Aircraft Carrier, its belly concealed six small airships with unique designs, sacrificing endurance for high-speed maneuverability. They were truly lethal weapons of aerial combat.
The Tesla Coil mounted on its roof was an experimental new device personally created by the Serbian exile scientist Nikola Tesla. It was an absolute secret weapon that Tsarist Russia had not even shared with its allies.
As the culmination of Tsarist Russia's manpower, resources, and wealth, the Ivan the Terrible might well have surpassed even the London, the flagship of the Royal Air Force, which had undergone more than ten major refits after its disastrous defeat in Texas.
At the very least, the Tsar and his staff and advisers all believed so.
Petrov, Marshal of the Tsarist Russian Air Force, moved his gaze away from the periscope. Reflected in its lens were countless friendly infantrymen below, retreating like a swarm of ants.
"Those useless drunkards in the War Ministry piled over a million men onto the front line, yet still let the Germans advance hundreds of kilometers in a single day. A bunch of serfs will never learn how to fight, even if you put weapons in their hands."
As the noble air force branch, the crew of the Ivan the Terrible were almost all Boyar nobles. Their families had long martial traditions, and every one of them practiced the secret