Prologue: Battleship Sventar
Alexander reviewed the reports given to him by the junior officers and non-commissioned officers. Out of the thousand man crew of the Sventar, two hundred were killed in action, having either fallen in battle against the wyverns, or off he edge of the airship as it fell from the sky. Of the eight hundred survivors, only two hundred were able to function at full capacity. An 80% casualty rate from the risky operation.
Still, they had knocked down at least five dragons in that battle, and numerous wyverns. All said and tolled, they had given the dragon a heavier blow than they had received, but now they had crash landed in a forest in the middle of orc territory. They had supplies to last about a month, but it was unlikely that any rescue expeditions would be arriving, and staying in one location wasn't going to work.
Surveying the wreckage of the sky battleship Sventar, Alexander knew that the vessel would never fly again. Turning to his first mate Natalia, he remarked, "We're going to need to scuttle the ship. Making sure the enemy can't put it back together or figure out how to make it work. The cannon and mortars we can re-purpose as field artillery, as it looks like we're going to need to march the men back home, once they're able to move." Thankfully, they had enough healers on the crew that most of the casualties would make a full recovery to combat status soon enough.
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