The massive Iron Warship emerged from the clouds, its pitch-black shadow completely engulfing the city hall before them. Everyone was stunned by the appearance of this behemoth, while Adams and Hancock turned ashen.
"H-how... why..."
Hancock stared at the warship overhead, unable even to form a complete sentence. The Continental Congress had chosen to meet in Feyhart City, far from the harbor, precisely to prevent the Empire's troops from launching a surprise attack and capturing them all in one fell swoop. But they had never imagined that the Empire would deploy an Airship!
Hancock knew that Airships existed, but Mericia was relatively remote. To its people, Airships were rather like the so-called aerospace forces of the modern world: they sounded impressive, but hardly seemed relevant to their lives.
And now... they discovered that they seemed to have been mistaken from the very beginning.
Whoosh!
Several steel cables shot down from the Airship and slammed into the ground in the square outside the city hall. The terrified militia spun around, clutching their rifles, utterly bewildered and at a loss for what to do.
They looked just like humans facing aliens in a science fiction movie.
Perhaps, to the people of Mericia, there really was little difference.
Next, diamond-shaped objects resembling drop pods slid swiftly down the cables and landed heavily on the ground. Their thick doors slammed down, and hulking metal warriors emerged.
Yes, metal warriors.
They wore full suits of armor resembling those of medieval knights and carried launchers that looked like heavy machine guns. Small steam-powered units were mounted on their backs. Their breastplates bore an engraved emblem of crossed swords and a circling eagle.
"Aaah!"
The sudden appearance of these metal warriors sent the militia screaming and stumbling backward. It was hardly surprising. There were not many of