The Last Ship

G~ 8:53 PM 0

There were no speeches or fanfare when the last ship pulled out. She was old and worn out, nothing like the fine republic fleet that had gone out before. All the finest ships had gone out to fight in the defense of the republic and none had returned. Now the city was left with one last ship to protect itself. Liguria, the pearl of the sea, the preeminent trading city in the world was now threatened by the air fleets of any voracious empires looking to seize the pearl for themselves. A thick feeling of despair hung over the city as no one even watched as the last ship, bearing a retired captain and a retired crew sailed to the skies to the defense of the city.

She was an older model long since put to rest in favor of newer and better designs. However, she lived on as a training ship before being placed in reserve to be scrapped for spare parts. Now after being cleaned out and freshly crewed, she hummed upwards to face the incoming threat. Her parts groaned from exertion and the winds were not gentle as she rose higher and higher into the sky.

The newer ships hummed and cut through the shy to meet her as she rose. Their movements were sharp and precise as the magic was strong with them and complemented their systems well. They resembled hawks waiting to descend and strike down the lumbering hulking shape coming to meet them. This would not even be a fight and their arrogance grew at the sight of such unsightly prey.

The magic running through her was not strong, and she pushed through the wind in a slow and steady pace. Before she could even crest to the same field, the enemy started to fire upon her. Bursts of magic smashed unrelentingly upon her as she continued to climb amidst all the fire. The skies lit up with the various colors and soon she was lost amidst the array of fire.

Beaten and battered even before she had gone into battle, the light fire from the enemy was nothing for her. She had pulled through the worse and been beaten down before. Using the lack of vision to her advantage she returned fire. It wasn't nearly as accurate, but she persisted and forced herself in close.

Seeing that the old ship was not finished, the enemy swarmed her and continued to pepper her with fire. She returned fire, at a slower but steady pace. Damaged and feeling the brunt of the fire repeatedly battering against her frame, she dropped in the sky. However, as she drooped, the view of the city loomed below. Remembering her duty, she rose once more and continued to fight with everything that she had. She was the last ship and the city's only hope. Though they had little faith in her and hadn't even seen her off, she still fought for the love of them and all the city.

Hours passed and the battle still raged on, but she refused to give. Munitions exhausted, crew spent and captain nearly broken, she remained aloft weathering everything that she could. Finally, completely spent and unwilling to engage any further, the enemy was forced to withdraw. Her energy had been long spent, but somehow she had managed to stay afloat. Now that the threat had withdrawn, she plummeted from the sky. She could do nothing to save the crew on-board as she had not the ability to save herself.

She crashed to the earth far outside the city, but she did not burst into flames or explode. Instead she plowed deeply into the earth and lay there completely exhausted. The city raced out to her, and raised her face from the dirt. She could fly and protect the city no longer, but the people praised her anyway. The skies were saved and the pearl shone through the clouds of war. They placed her on a pedestal to watch over the city forever and always.