Wardens of the South.

[Eitan Angevin]

Riverland Territories, greater Zaichaer
65th of Searing, Year 124 of Steel

As good as his word, his cousin-in-law Eitan had arranged things for a bit of adventure.

Aboard Searing Victory, he was Admiral Angevin and mostly all business, but he was not cold to Dornkirk, nor to Kämpfer. The crew of the ZADC flagship worked like clockwork, and so he was able to step away and confer with the Warders he had brought from the Order to assist him in seeing to the protections of the riverland forts. For one, the Order liked to maintain its mystique. For another, he didn't want to make Reiner uncomfortable with him, so he kept that aspect of his work quiet.

"The anchors must align properly for the southron shields to connect with the shields of the city proper," he reminded them. "The city proper will be nigh impervious to any blunt force attacks, and the forts... well, you understand." His warders nodded with alacrity while the ZRC logistician hurriedly triple-checked her calculations. "Very well. I will leave you to your preparations."

He rose. "Dismissed." And then he left the small meeting room, climbing stairs to the deck. Walking to the prow, he didn't see Dornkirk or Kämpfer. Hopefully nobody was puking into a bucket. Standing in the prow, gazing down at the summer greens of Zaichaer's territories, he felt like the king of the world. The deck was warded against heavy winds, but it was not in an impervious bubble. The breezes did tease at his carefully smoothed curls, and at his uniform.

Angevin smiled to himself and the open skies. As much as he loved home and hearth and family, as much as he loved the High City, this was his happy place. To fly was to see all earthly problems reduced to equations on a page, curiosities upon a map, and to feel above it all; invincible, untouchable.

[Reiner Dornkirk]

Reiner was over the moon. He almost felt literally so, as he soared the skies on the Zaichaeri flagship, which had miraculously survived the Dread Days of the Breach. It was a dream come true. Ever since he'd first seen the dreadnought rise above the erstwhile Zaichaeri skyline (since much changed) on the day it was revealed to the ream, he'd dreamt of standing on its deck and now here he was.

Surrounded by ZADC men going about their duties, he felt a bit of an odd man out. He had no tasks to complete and he kept finding himself in the way for the first leg of the journey. Once they'd reached their cruising altitude, though, it seemed there was less for the airmen to do, so things slowed down enough for Reiner to find a good vantage from which to look down on the world below.

He'd been in the sky before and on other ships of war, but this one just felt powerful. It made him feel powerful. Looking down at the shadow it cast upon the landscape below, he imagined what a bombardment might look like.

Time wore on and, a few moments after Eitan mounted the deck to relish the skies, Reiner returned from the cabin below and sidled up next to him, though he didn't say anything. He was perfectly content to just share the moment. He didn't really have anything to say. He'd already thanked the man profusely enough that further expressions of gratitude would feel obsequious. The best way he could impart how he felt, just now, was to feel it next to Eitan. To share the moment and reflect upon the glory of the State.

[Eitan Angevin]

As Admiral Angevin, he supposed he cut an impressive figure standing there. But here, where they could be seen, but not overheard, he was more like the Eitan Reiner knew from socializing. Here, he smiled broadly, and were Stefan there, he might have recollected how as young boys Brenner and Eitan had smiled broadly, proudly, when showing things off to each other. Eitan didn't speak for a while. He often thought of Brenner when he was aboard Searing Victory. There were aborted dreams of being XO to Brenner's CO, but now he was juggling all sorts of power and authority while Stefan did experiments on his brother's metallic remains.

Time passed. He processed the sadness and regret so that when he turned his head to Reiner once more, he could smile sincerely.

"We used to play at airmen in our youth, Brenner and I," he shared. "When he was stationed aboard the flagship, it seemed as though boyhood dreams were coming true. I never did get to serve on the same ship as him, alas. But I like to think he would be proud to see us soldiering on."

There was a chirp, and he tapped the silver wings attached to his chest.

"Go ahead."

"Approaching Straußburg, sir."

"Ahh, excellent. Practice strafing maneuvers on approach." He paused. "Warn them it's a drill before we reach anti-airship defense range, but not long before."

A pause. A wicked, "Aye, sir."

The wings chirped once more and Eitan smirked at Reiner.

"Let's see if we can't make Commander Vonnegut shit her britches, shall we?"

[Reiner Dornkirk]

Reiner cocked an eyebrow, lips parting slightly as Brenner's name was invoked. It jostled him a bit, stirring feelings that surprised him even as they fit the moment perfectly. Inevitably. As he'd silently been reflecting on his own path to Searing Victory, he hadn't really been considering that he was walking the deck once trod by his martyred cousin.

"Then they did come true. For a time, to an extent... It's good, I think, to grace your dreams while you're still alive. I've mounted some of mine, now. It makes it easier to be bold... like the State deserves from us." He pursed his lips,

"Yes. I think he'd be proud of you." He didn't know Reiner existed, but he'd been invested in Eitan. "I-..." The sound of the communique startled him, and his mouth snapped shut as Eitan tended to his duties. He forgot what he'd wanted to say anyway, and Eitan seemed inclined to make mischief.

His eyes widened slightly at the proposal, but he just chuckled and shook his head.

"Its your air force, Admiral." He noted, knowing enough about airship travel to realize he should brace himself before they engaged in their practice maneuvers. He stepped to a place where he could hold onto something sturdy, and took a deep breath to ready himself.

While Reiner was true to his word when he told Eitan he didn't get airsick anymore, he'd also only been on relatively smooth rides lately. He hadn't been on airships that were engaging in battles of the legitimate nor the preparatory variety. It was his sincere hope that Eitan's endeavor to make Vonnegut shit her britches wouldn't make him lose his lunch instead, but that remained to be seen.

[Eitan Angevin]

Reiner mostly saw Eitan playing family man or playing Admiral to the ZADC fleet; up here at the prow of an airship, causing mischief, perhaps he caught a glimpse of the Eitan Brenner had known. The elder man did seem sincere in his desire to include Reiner in all things family, his idea of family clearly inclusive. Perhaps there was an element of feeling paternal toward the entire State now he had been so instrumental in saving and succoring it, guiding it back toward prosperity. In any case, he grinned, stepping closer to the taffrail and grasping a mooring duck.

The ships enchantments dampened the worst of quick maneuvers, but it didn't hurt to be safe.

The subsonic hum that constantly resonated through the ship, its cargo, and its passengers changed, and then the prow dipped. Looking straight ahead, the fortress came into clear view and focus. The wind, also dampened, still picked up as they accelerated, raking through their hair.

Once more, he tapped his wings.

"Sir?"

"Gunners, arm flares."

There was a pause, and then an amused, "Aye, sir."

He looked innocently at Reiner. "One does want a certain level of verisimilitude to one's pranks."

Without telling Reiner, he wove a ward about them, anchored on the mooring duck, so even should the worst happen, they wouldn't fall to their deaths. Their dive was thrilling to Eitan, though he did glance from time to time to ensure he wasn't traumatizing the ground-pounder. When they were close enough, flares shot out of artillery tubes and their descent bottomed out, gravity seeming to weight them down rather too heavily, as they slowed before rising once more.

The flares went off over the fortress like so many fireworks. Eitan was laughing a bit like a wild man, hoping that Vonnegut was pissed.

[Reiner Dornkirk]

This sort of maneuver was outside Reiner's frame of reference, and even with the safeguards and enchantments, it was a scary thing to be standing atop something that was so high in the sky and moving so sharply. His knuckles waxed whited than usual, as he death gripped a rail and, without realizing he was doing it, he began to quietly hum. It was hard to hear over the whipping of the wind, but if Eitan listened he might recognize the refrain of "The Battle Hymn of the State". It seemed Reiner was a patriot through-and-through, with even his subconscious tending toward anthemic Zaichaeri marching music when fight and flight were not an option.

As was often the case with high nerves, there was a thrill that followed the realization that he was not, indeed, about to die a horrible death. The fact that this revelation was heralded with pyrotechnic flair was that much more thrilling. He couldn't help but break from his hymnal hums into a full-throated cheer, fists pumping in the air as the flares whooshed forth and exploded.

"That was awesome." He said, in his normal rasp, once all the bombast had died down. He didn't particularly care if Vonnegut was vexed, but he did enjoy a bit of showmanship and unscheduled fireworks were a very special treat to complement his first time on the Zaichaeri flagship. It was one of the few things that hadn't been compromised by the blight of the Breach... or, if it was, it was in such a way that Reiner couldn't see. The Searing Victory still looked victorious and undiminished in its glory, and standing on its deck made him feel powerful. Even if he had nothing to do with its operations whatsoever.

[Eitan Angevin]

As Searing Victory's swoop turned into a sort of lazy victory lap around the fortress, now quite close, all things told, whoops and hollers erupted from all over the ship. The airmen were well-disciplined, knowing it was the key to keeping themselves and their families safe from the dangers that lay waiting outside their civilization. When they were given something simple and momentous to enjoy, they certainly did enjoy it. Even now, those manning the walls were laughing it off and waving to the airship.

To his credit, Eitan kept his aplomb for a minute or so before laughing, color high in his cheeks. Dark eyes sparkled with glee.

"Should have them trained to play the 112 Overture so they could answer back with cannon fire in time with the music," he mused. "Well, perhaps for my birthday." His smile squirmed a bit and then he was grinning again, and if Reiner wasn't Brenner and they weren't children, it was nice to share something similar as grown men with his cousin.

There was little that needed doing from him at this point; the helm had his orders and they didn't need him to oversee the docking procedure. If his hair was in disarray when he met with Vonnegut, well, so be it. Delia said he should be polite and politic with Vonnegut, but fuck that. She was a bitch for no reason. Of course, he would try to be polite and politic now that he had caused a scene. But it was clear the airmen loved him for it, and the ground troops would forgive him by the time he left. Seeing the ZADC flagship in action and knowing it was there to protect them went a long way toward making them love it and the men who crewed it.

"We'll make an airman of you yet," he said, clapping Reiner briskly on the back.

He wasn't the sort of man who hit hard to prove his masculinity, but rather as an inclusive gesture. Eitan had welcomed Reiner into his family, conjoined as it was now with the Dornkirks, welcomed him into his home, and now into his career. He wanted Reiner to work his way up such that nobody questioned him for nepotism, but he also wanted Reiner to know what his options were. If he wanted to reach for the stars, an airship was a good place from which to stretch out his hand.

[Reiner Dornkirk]

Reiner chuckled with perfunctory politeness at the jest about the 112 Overture. He didn’t know fancy people music and, with a number and a ten schilling word like ‘Overture’ in the title, that one sounded very fancy. To compound the privilege of it all, Eitan made a cavalier remark about using military resources to celebrate his own birthday. And, frankly, Reiner didn’t even fault him for it. He’d have loved that kind of access.

“Heh… You know I always wanted to be. I applied for the ZADC originally, but I got denied… ‘Bound for the ground’ they used to call us rejects.” It seemed an odd thing to recall here, now and so high above Terra Firma.

He knew Eitan was just joshing around, but he’d have been very interested in such a transfer if things like that were done. It was just so surpassingly uncommon to switch from one branch of the military to another, that it seemed like a pipe dream. Looking back on it, if there’d been a time to shoot for that particular moon, it would have been during the height of the blight when the lines were already so blurred. Back then, when he was new to the family he might have taken advantage of his cousin’s good will. But back then he’d also been so desperate to prove that he wasn’t a gold digger that he never would have proposed it, even if it had occurred to him at the time.

“Ah well.” He’d have probably found himself at a disadvantage if he suddenly became an airman at this point in his career. It wasn’t like he could catch up enough to worm his way into a captaincy and, lacking that, what was even the point?

[Eitan Angevin]

While adrenaline was pumping, his mind was still working.

"Then I will most certainly introduce you to old Benno," he assured him, "and find more opportunities for a ZDC officer to liaise with the ZADC. If we learned anything from the pidge's holocaust and the birth of the fell moon, it is that we must be adaptable. Benno went from ZDC to ZADC and now he is leading both. There has been some discussion of the possibility of small fleets of airships specifically under the control of the ZDC and Riverlands Corps. Mostly for troop transport and logistics, at least at first. You would be a prime candidate for such a thing."

His face grew serious, his gaze intense as they shared this time together. Soon they would have to debark and go to work.

"I will not put you in a position in which I don't believe you will thrive, but I am a resource for you. You just have to ask."

That said, he smiled. Airmen were on deck now, and they were fast approaching the airship mooring. The men (and women) of Searing Victory worked like a well-oiled machine.

"All right, well. Go find Kuno..." He had heard Reiner use the nickname, and tried it himself. He wasn't like normal admirals; he was a cool admiral. "Chat up the troops. Time for me to face the ogre of Straußburg." But he smirked, smashed down his wind-tousled curls, and set his hat upon his head to keep them down.

With a salute to his cousin-in-law, he instantly code-switched into Admiral Angevin, and strode purposefully away.