The golden sun peeked through the morning clouds and the air was still rife with the scent of rain from the previous night. The hustle and bustle of Steamridge was only beginning as vendors opened their doors and stalls and in various locations around the city the scent of freshly baked goods filled the air. The sunlight shone off of the dome of the Imperial Palace as trumpets sounded and a flock of birds emerged from the distant courtyard and the cities anthem began to play. Steamridge was one of the last and rapidly diminishing bastions of hope and neutrality in the Vergil Empire as troops approached from all sides. The city state of Steamridge had many strategical advantages in terms of placement and natural resources however the Emperor insisted on making his home there and keeping it somewhat pure. Naturally such an Emperor was not popular with those whose only interests were personal gain.
Elizabeth Sloan stood at the edge of the rooftop garden and watched all this occur, the garden was popular amongst the native species of birds which happened to be Doves, Elizabeth thought them to be majestic and clearly superior to other birds, however at times she doubted it due to the mess they would often leave behind in terms of excrement. Elizabeth paced up and down the rooftop garden admiring the abundant wildlife and flora present, she had to hand it to the Emperor, he had kept his promise about keeping the city beautiful. Whilst over continents prided themselves on their so called superior, 'Electricity' the Emperor insisted that Steam was superior even though electricity was used in certain parts of the city, as such the Empire was the only one to have Vessels of which could transport people via the sky. These where much more popular than the common Motor Car though quite expensive. Elizabeth had used them on occasion and almost fallen off at least once. But still, it truly was something to enjoy and revel in.
Elizabeth eventually came to a halt and sat on an incredibly old stone bench that sat in the center of the garden. Next to her lay the previous days new paper, she picked it up and started to read:
TRIDENT LAUNCHES ASSAULT ON THE ORIENT! MASS CASUALTIES!
The main headline read, Elizabeth sighed. It seemed as if the entire world was intent on wiping the orient off the face of the Earth and she wasn't sure if they had deserved it. Ever since their unnecessary involvement in the great war for Terra Australis they had not been the most popular folks in town. It'd already been a few years after the war and they had already gone through roughly six emperors, not to mention numerous, 'Terrorist' attacks on their capitols which resulted in the deaths of many innocents. Even though the Empire refused to be involved Elizabeth felt they could do more to prevent the needless deaths however the Emperor preferred to be safe, their continent already had enough conflict between the Three Empires. Ironically the Emperors of each were brothers, though they all equally despised one another and on at least one public occasion they had resorted to throwing insults at each other at an event dedicated to raise awareness for the current Rock-Lung Epidemic plaguing the lower city.
Elizabeth put down the paper and stood up, she walked back to the edge of the garden and looked out over the city once again, in the few short minutes she had been sitting down the city truly had sprung to life. Vessels manoeuvred in-between buildings and made their ways to docking to unload workers all over the city. Elizabeth heard something behind her and turned to investigate, it was her house-maid, Mary.
“Oh Mary, you frightened me..” Elizabeth explained laughing it off.
“Oh, sorry Mrs. Sloan, I came to say that the driver is at the door.” Mary said before quickly excusing herself back into the main building.
Elizabeth was far from nobility however Mary was apparently a close family friend, or so her father had told her, however due to Mary's dark complexion and ethnicity she had only assumed that her father wanted to protect her. As amazing as Steamridge was, it wasn't quite as progressive as certain other parts of the world. Elizabeth made her way down eight flights of stairs due to the elevator being out of order and emerged from her front door huffing and puffing. She really needed to exercise more. Elizabeth was greeted by a slender man dressed in a sharp black suit and sporting a red velvet tie. He also had one of those fancy caps that drivers usually wore, he smiled at her and gestured for her to get into the back of the open-top motor car. Elizabeth obliged.
Elizabeth was on her way into the Inner-City to meet with the executive board of Walter Co. Formerly Walter and Son but due to the tragic death of Walter Henry's Son, Fergus he deemed it appropriate to remove his Sons name from the company. Elizabeth's Father brought news back from the Tuchunka Deserts claiming that he had found the ruins of a technologically advanced civilisation in some underground ruins. Naturally no one believed him and thus it was her job to escort a briefcase full of documents and reports into the city hoping that Walter Co. Would be willing enough to fund a full-scale expedition into the desert to investigate further.
“So Miss, d'you hear about the raid the Orient carried out on Violet Peak the other week?” The driver made conversation trying to be polite even though the rattle of the vehicles engine was rather distracting, “I hear they killed almost everyone livin' there. I hope they pay.”
“Mmm, yeah.” Elizabeth nodded, clearly not invested in the conversation, sensing this the driver shut up for the rest of the trip.
* * *
Elizabeth arrived at the Walter Co. City HQ and stepped out of the Motor Car taking special care not to forget the briefcase. She waved goodbye to the driver and he honked as he drove off and merged with the unusually heavy traffic in the CBD. The air had a burning smell to it and thus Elizabeth quickly made her way into the main lobby of the building where she was greeted by a fiery headed receptionist who greeted her politely.
“Mrs. Sloan, I presume? You can head right up to floor 88, the board is waiting for you.” She cheerfully explained, Elizabeth nodded and made her way over to the Elevator, she stepped in and thumbed the number 88.
The Elevator whizzed upwards and as it came to a halt she felt her stomach settle, she would never get used to that feeling. The Elevator 'Pinged' and the doors opened, she was greeted by row upon row of white cubicles each with hard-working men and women stationed at typewriters. Elizabeth stepped out and the doors rapidly closed behind her, they could have taken a limb off even. A short stubby man hurried over to her waving his arms to catch her attention.
“Mrs. Sloan! Mrs. Sloan! Welcome to Walter Co! Please, come this way!” He hurried her over to a narrow hallway at the end of which was a single door. He opened it and practically pushed her inside where she was greeted by roughly 20 men all sitting around one big oval table facing her. Elizabeth grunted awkwardly and got right to the gist of it.
“Can we please have money to go and hunt for god knows what in the desert?” She blurted out suddenly realising how stupid it sounded, a couple of the older men exchanged looks across the table.
“Miss..” One of them raised their hand, Elizabeth nodded at them feeling like a school teacher.
“Do you uhh.. Have something to.. Convince us?” He rambled, Elizbeth slid the briefcase up the incredibly long table towards the man. He shrugged and unlocked it. Within moments the papers had been scattered all over the table as the men inspected each photo and report with great interested, a hushed sense of amazement washed over them.
“So uhh.. Is that a yes?” Elizabeth asked whilst feeling incredibly confused, maybe it hadn't gone as bad as she thought.
“Yes, yes, just leave these here.” One of the men said not even bothering to look up at her, he shoo'd her away with his hand. Elizabeth shrugged and found her own way out, she definitely did not expect that to
* * *
Elizabeth emerged into the streets, as she exited the building her eyes stung for a moment before returning to normal. Elizabeth looked around expecting her driver to be there and yet he wasn't. Elizabeth leant up against the side of the building and waited for a few moments, she watched the hustle and bustle around her, each motor car with its own location. Elizabeth heard the sound of a propeller from up above, she turned her head only to see a Vessel making it's way inbetween the buildings. If Elizabeth was going to be here for a while she might as well get some light reading done she thought to herself.
Elizabeth made her way over to the Newspaper Kiosk on the side of the street and popped a single silver coin into it. She was rewarded with the current days News. Elizabeth reached into the slot and took it out, she inspected the front page closely.
ORIENT RETALIATES WITH DEADLY FORCE! TRIDENT CAPTURED!
Now that was interesting..
