"Piss in ash, they botched that badly," Mia whispered in a combination of awe and despair, as the distant but terrifyingly luminous explosions died away. As she watched, she let her fingertips linger absentmindedly on the Valkyrie she had been checking over.

"What?" her lieutenant, Amelian Rustov, asked from behind her. Mia rolled her eyes a little and shook her head. Bloody magnificent officer, but the woman had no head for ballistics.

"The gunners fired before their target was in range. That Dragon had them dead to rights. Their Crafter bailed them out," Mia explained.

"They're just specks still. How can you tell?"

"The first streaks of blue were the Valkyries firing incendiary rounds. The bright red plume was the Dragon's attack. The white flash that looked like an armoury went up must have been their Crafter, because their ship is still in the sky."

Amelian said nothing, and Mia turned back to watch the fires fade completely. Only then could she track the distant blot of the Dragon as it levelled off below the other ship.

Flaming hell, she thought to herself, that was terrifying. Probably a half-dozen Valkyries, by the looks of it, and it was the smallest, weakest attack in that exchange.

And that was five Valkyries more than they could use at any one time. The cannon she had been attending to for the last hour had never seemed smaller, and the horde of ammunition she had carefully assembled felt woefully inadequate.

She glanced at the series of neatly stacked rounds, thinking. Incendiary rounds were only useful to a hundred yards or so and packed less of a punch than the Captain managed with a Salamander. She had nearly a dozen canister shots; ball bearings packed into a large tin can, but the effective range was only slightly better than incendiary shot.

Canister shot also didn't dissipate, and ball bearings falling from this height would be lethal.

Round shot was the only good alternative to Incendiary. The Valkyries fired a twenty-four-pound steel ball with an effective range of over a mile. Over one and a half miles, depending on how much higher than the target they could put the airship.

However, round shot had the same problem canister shot did. And they were flying over Central; the most densely populated part of the City. Every miss or ricochet was a death sentence for someone below.

"Mia, load round shot," she heard Amelian say.

By the abyss and its fires.

"Aye, ma'am," she said simply, and saluted. Abyss below, that wasn't a decision she wanted to make, but she'd defend the need for it to any tribunal Amelian found herself in front of.

Well, Captain Raeth, actually. His ship, his ass.

"No objections?" Amelian asked, clearly a little surprised. "You know the implications better than anyone."

"None, ma'am," Mia admitted, grimly. She didn't even make the call, and it weighed on her like she was trying to lift the Valkyrie.

"I was afraid of that. Kinda wished I was wrong," Amelian sighed and shook her head.

In the distance, the Dragon began to fly towards the Bore, with the other ship flying impotently above it. It was just inside their extreme range, but the time the ball would spend in the air was almost long enough to reload the cannon. More than enough time for the Dragon to change its course.

Six hundred yards closer, Mia thought to herself. Draw closer, put the ship about a hundred feet higher, and double-charge the gun. Mia grinned as she thought to herself, and absent-mindedly let her fingers trace over the notches on the gun's sights.

Mia didn't notice Amelian looking at her thoughtfully until she spoke. "On second thought, come with me. It's time you joined the strategy sessions," she said and pointed towards the aft section of the deck.

"Aye, ma'am," Mia replied, slightly unnerved. If they were looking to her for ideas, things were worse than they looked.

She followed Amelian up the ramp, following the rails until the joined Captain Raeth and his shadow, Commander Kendor. "Sir!" she announced, saluting.

"Take a spyglass and watch carefully. They're about to do something we may have to imitate before morning," Gerald said simply, pointing towards the other airship.

Both the ship and the Dragon were flying towards the Bore, with the ship in a slight lead. But the Dragon flew faster, and would soon overtake the ship.

As they watched, the ship turned in place.

"What are they-" Mia began, until the glow of the other ship's lift bag went dark. A heartbeat later the ship fell, plummeting through the air as fast as the ground could drag it along. Mia found herself clutching the rails as she watched.

The ship finished its turn in free fall, and its guns were pointed directly at the Dragon as it plummeted into the creature's path.

"Now," Gerald whispered, and Mia noticed the other ship's lift bag light up with renewed fire, and their descent was violently halted.

Caught by surprise, the Dragon barely had time to flinch before a half-dozen cannons fired a gout of blue flame and knocked it into a whirling fall before it crashed into the ground.

"Yes!" Amelian said, slapping the rails. Lucille whooped in excitement, and Mia cheered loudly. Below, much of the crew celebrated in kind, with cheers and even a few celebratory salamander shots into the empty air.

Captain Raeth, however, didn't lower his spyglass. Commander Kendor stepped next to him and waited for him to explain.

"Its fires. They don't diminish or even waver. Like the Rider," Captain Raeth said, loudly enough that Mia knew she was supposed to hear. "We knock it around, but we're not doing anything to hurt it."

"They grounded it. It's more than we knew we could do before," the Commander said, firmly. "Let's try and keep it there."

"Where more of the City's strength can reach it," Amelian added.

"Then we get into range and hit it as hard as we can. Lucille, have Maxwell take us straight towards the Bore. We have to assume that the Spire is the Dragon's ultimate aim, which means we stay in its way. Amelian, post troops along the rails, and have them watch the City for anyone trying to send us a message. And..."

The Captain stared directly at her, trying to remember something. "Corporal Vascel, right? You were the one that shot the ammo chest earlier."

"Yes, sir. I was formerly a gunnery specialist until my promotion. I'm reasonably well versed in ballistics, sir."

"Stop being modest. It isn't helping the Captain," Amelian said, stopping at the stairwell, exacerbated. She turned to the Captain, and added, "She once drew a smiling cartoon face on a wall with canister shot."

"At three hundred yards," Mia added, indignantly. Any fool could have managed that at fifty paces.

The Captain whistled, and Mia grinned a little as she heard it. "Three hundred yards? I'm not sure I could have done that, and I cheat. What's the maximum effective range of our guns?" he asked as he started towards the Valkyries. She followed quickly, eager to take a few shots at the Dragon.

"Three-quarters of a mile, sir. I can keep the ball in a five-foot radius at that range. After that, the velocity and rifling aren't adequate to guarantee much of anything."

"And if I told you I can enhance and direct the explosion?" Gerald asked.

"You can do that?"

"To a point. The ball can only handle so much stress."

"So if I said two and half times initial velocity and add to the spin a touch, you could give me that?"

"I can," the Captain answered, and his voice sounded faintly similar to the roar of the Spire.

For a heartbeat, Mia pitied the Dragon.

"Then we can hit it from here, sir," Mia said as she glanced around, and caught sight of Mitchelson and Barnes. Both of them were thoroughly committed to trying to look like they had something to do.

"Barnes, Mitchelson, over here!" Mia shouted to them, and they both scampered over, saluting sharply to the Captain.

"Barnes, you're loading. Swab out the barrel and load round-shot. Mitchelson, get to the winch and do what I tell you," Mia said as she knelt down behind the Valkyrie's sights.

Mia stared ahead, at the Dragon scrambling to its feet, and felt the world around her fade away. Her thinking focused, narrowed, into the distance to her target.

Shot fall accelerates at eleven yards a second. Two and a third seconds to target at this range. Wind is pretty fierce, at this height, but it's always heading to the Spire. Twenty degrees up from the target, with advantage of elevation.

Barnes packed the charge and turned away to grab one of the steel balls, as Mitchelson changed the angle the Valkyrie was aimed at.

"Down ten degrees, Mitchelson," Mia said, surprising herself.

"Down? The ball won't make it as it is."

"Our Captain is fond of showing off. Too high up and he puts it across the river. Ten degrees down."

"Aye," Mitchelson said, unnerved.

"Wind speed is forty-seven miles an hour, towards the Bore. Wind speed decreases seven miles every hundred yards you fall," the Captain said, as he knelt down next to her. "Ship sway is less than a tenth of a degree. The charge is slightly overpowered, and a little deformed on the bottom. I'll correct for it."

Abyss below, having a Crafter around could be useful.

"What are we aiming for?" Mia asked.

"The moment when it unleashes its fires, it holds still. We shoot for the head at that moment," the Captain replied.

"Time to target, one and a half seconds. Give me three times the initial charge, add to the spin a touch, and try to keep the ball on course," Mia said, as professionally as possible.

"You two sound like a physics textbook," Mitchelson mumbled.

Mia chuckled, failing to keep her face straight. That wasn't the first time she heard that joke.

Captain Raeth turned to her, and added, "You know the sad part?"

Mia shrugged and waited.

"That's not the first time I've heard that," The Captain reflected, grinning sheepishly. Mia laughed.

"Gun's hot!" Barnes said, before stepping back. Michelson followed suit, leaving the torch to fire the gun beside her. She reached for it until she heard the Captain chuckle.

"I'll do that part. Just tell me when," Captain Raeth said.

"Sorry, sir. I'm not used to working with a Crafter."

"Also not the first time I've heard that," Captain Raeth reflected, looking below.

They had just missed their window for the headshot that the Captain was oddly insistent on, as the Dragon's fire launched towards the other airship. In its path was a fireball, fixed in place, that seemed to be getting smaller as the Dragon's attack approached it.

"Abyss below."

"Relax. She has this," the Captain replied, with a nonchalance that almost seemed inappropriate.

Before it vanished, the small orb of fire was barely a pinprick against the skyline. But as the torrent of Dragon fire passed it, it exploded into a flash of light that drowned out everything else in the world.

The noise was deafening, and the force of the explosion blew in windows and rocked the buildings closest to the Dragon.

"Bleeding Abyss, that shouldn't be possible." Mia whispered, in awe. She turned back to the Captain, and asked, "Could you have done that?"

He nodded his head, but flinched. "I'd rather not."

"Why doesn't she attack the Dragon with that?" Mia asked.

"If she commits to an attack, who defends her ship?" the Captain asked in response. Mia nodded, solemnly, understanding.

Cannons rang out, and streaks of blurry grey crashed into the Dragon, pushing it back into the building behind it.

"It's going to attack again. Are you ready?"

"Aye, sir," Mia said and stared down the sights of her gun.

The Dragon reared its head back and fixed its gaze towards the other ship. It tensed, pulling its head back as it started to glow brighter.

"Now!" Mia said and turned away to cover her ears.

Damn good thing, too. The force of the explosion pushed her hard enough to force the air out of her lungs. Mitchelson, a few feet away, was actually knocked over by the blast.

She turned back, ignoring the pain, to watch the Dragon as its head was swung sideways, and crash into a nearby building.

Mitchelson cheered and was followed by much of the crew, who turned away from their tasks to watch. Mia only grinned, as the Captain turned to her. "Nicely done," he said.

He stepped away, as Mitchelson and Barnes began reloading the Valkyrie.

"Were you expecting anything less?" she asked.

"Not really. I'll put 'meets expectations' next to your name on my report," Captain Raeth added, cheekily.

He stood, and reached into his pocket, fishing out a small piece of metal. He pressed it into his palms as the metal went bright red, squished it flat, then pulled his hand away until the metal cooled. He then took his finger and wrote on the metal, and handed it to her.

"For meritorious services rendered under duress," he said, with a mock solemnity that made her instantly suspicious. She took the piece of metal from his hand, and held it in her palm.

The inscription he had carved into the metal read 'Meets Expectations'.

"I hate you, sir," she replied as she started laughing.

"How about you take it out on the Dragon? You see where the wings join the body? Aim for it, next time that thing tries to take a shot at the other ship," the Captain instructed as he drew out his spyglass to take a closer look at the Dragon.

Damn thing was still standing and had turned its head their way. Which it regretted fairly quickly, as a half-dozen cannon balls crashed into it and knocked the beast off its feet.

She smirked and set her gaze through the sights. "Down, three degrees."

"Aye, ma'am," Mitchelson replied.

"Ready, sir. I need three and a half times the initial charge, and a touch more spin."

"Understood. Just say when."

"And... now!" Mia cried out, as she stepped away and covered her ears. Once again, the Valkyrie cried out, and she turned back, drawing out a spyglass from her coat.

The shot hit exactly where she expected it to, striking the Dragon just where the wing connected with its body. The blow caused its fires to burst out, but like everything else they had hit it with, it did no lasting damage. It reeled, turning its head towards them, and seemed to ripple as something shot towards them.

"All hands! Clear the rails!" Gerald cried out, as he fished a Salamander shot from his pocket. Mia's eyes widened as she dashed towards the middle of the ship, and turned back to make sure Mitchelson and Barnes had followed.

She was surprised to see Commander Lucille beside her. The ship's first officer was watching her Captain carefully, but looked almost serenely calm despite the oncoming fire.

Calm, Mia noted, but she has a knife in her hand.

As soon as the crew had scrambled to the middle of the ship, the Captain pointed his hand towards it. The gout of flame dwarfed the Valkyrie explosions and buffeted the air hard enough to feel like a blow.

The fire vanished a heartbeat later, and the ship was quiet enough that Mia could hear the spent Salamander as it struck the deck.

"It isn't a living thing," Lucille said, as she stepped towards the Captain. To Mia's immediate relief, the shadow tucked away her knife as she approached him.

"Not a-" Mia asked, as she returned to the cannon, still a little shaken. She had thought they were outside of the Dragon's range.

"It isn't a living creature," Gerald agreed, turning to Mia to explain. "A living creature wouldn't survive having its brains bashed in. That last shot would have crippled it. It is fire taken form."

"Is that even possible?"

"Nothing else makes sense," Lucille insisted, pointing out towards it. "It endures Valkyries and a Crafter's assault. It wields the flame. What else can it be?"

"So how do we kill it?" Mia asked. "All we have is fire and force."

Gerald turned to Lucille, and said, "Have Amelian signal the other ship, and send them a message. As follows: We need a new plan. Once that's done, bring Amelian and Valen here. We need to think about ways to kill it."

And what he said next nearly broke her courage. "And discuss what we do if we can't."