Assault Zeppelins !

This post is an entry into the Scholar and Scribe "Thriller" edition invitational. If you'd like to join the fun, you can find the post HERE - the themes are Thriller and Action.

This one ends up being a sequel to last year's Thriller invitational, which in turn was a sequel to a Worldbuilding prompt. Welcome back to Captain Jack Randall and Dr Lily Fazackerley !

Sand crunched as the submersible grounded on the darkened beach. An inch of the black-painted boat was visible above the waves lapping the shore. The stern of the vessel was down a little and washed by the waves.

A hatch in the deck near the bow banged open, and a dozen forms crept out and quietly took up positions in a semi-circle on the beach. Two more figures emerged, checking a map with a compass and dim shielded torch.

"We're at the right place; the northwest beach of Etajima Island. Less than a mile to our destination."

Captain Jack Randall sounded confident. They'd island-hopped and coast-hugged all the way from Hong Kong, about 1500 miles away, hiding submerged in the daylight and travelling at night. They'd made it here, and they had a platoon of crack troopers of the Queen's Asian Rifles. With any luck, they'd be able to deal with Doktor Von Falken once and for all.

There was a stirring in a nearby bush. The beach was small, with trees and shrubs growing close to the waterline.

Two of the troopers moved quietly to investigate. Even though it was a dark, moonless night, their movement was enough. The bush moved again.

There was a quiet "phut" sound. Corporal Gurung the platoon sniper had fired his steam-rifle. A lethal, almost silent weapon. He was rewarded with the sound of a thump and crunching of undergrowth.

The two troopers reported back a couple of minutes later. "Local policeman. Corporal Gurung shot well. Hit him right between the eyes. No witnesses here, sir," reported Private Singh, saluting smartly.

"Good chaps. Best we get moving."

Captain Randall helped his companion off the boat. It was Doctor Lily Fazackerley, who had been with him throughout the hunt for Doktor Von Falken, right back to their trek through the Amazonian jungle and discovery of the first secret laboratory.

This was another journey between the trees, this time with the added complication of climbing up a mountain in the darkness. Private Singh led the way, with a dim lamp on his knapsack guiding those following behind. They had no other illumination; they dare not give away their presence.

The mountain wasn't huge, but it still took two hours of clambering up it's sides to get to their objective. Two hours of slipping, sliding, grabbing trees for support and spitting curse words as quietly as they could.

Halfway up, there was a stifled yell. Randall looked back. It was Private Lakshmi. He'd slipped, rolled twenty feet downhill and ended up with a badly sprained ankle.

"Sorry Private, you'll slow us down. Get back to the boat as best you can. We'll meet you back there."

They carried on the slog without him. As the gained altitude, they could see the lights of Hiroshima twinkling across the bay behind them.

On the final stretch, they had to follow the road that wound it's way up to the peak. It had been cut in so the slope on their left was an almost vertical bank, too steep to climb. They crept along slowly, with rising fear that they'd meet a Japanese patrol coming the other way with nowhere to go and no cover except the scrubby bushes on both sides of the track.

Finally they reached the top. The Mitakayama Battery.

They'd expected the big sea-facing heavy guns. They'd suspected something else might be there, something created by Doktor Von Falken for his dastardly experiments.

But what Randall and Lily saw was a shock. Lily's hand went to her mouth instinctively, her face pale.

"My God ! No-one knew about this !"

In front of the battery, the ground had been hollowed out into a wide dish-shape. Flickering oxy-acetylene lights illuminated a scene of frantic activity. But dwarfing the whole thing were the three behemoths lurking in the crater.

Zeppelins, but not like any they'd seen before. These weren't just big bags of gas around a frame with a little gondola beneath. They were great armoured whales, huge plates of some unknown material protecting them, studded with turrets holding rapid-fire repeating steam cannons, and with large gondolas, inside which were racks of massive bombs.

Two had great scarlet discs painted on the side, the Rising Sun of the Japanese Empire. The third was blazoned with the black on white of an Iron Cross.

Workers swarmed around them like ants, loading supplies and armaments onto the war machines.

Randall looked grim. "We have to stop this. These three machines alone could decimate Her Majesty's Royal Air Navy. And look... the frames for more of these monsters are over there, partly made."

Lily looked at him, doubt on her face. "How can we stop this ? There are so many !"

"I have a plan." He looked over at the troopers. "Singh, you're with Lily and myself. The rest of you, take up positions. If we're spotted, give covering fire for a bit then get back to the submersible. Corporal Gurung, snipe if you can. Let's keep this discreet for as long as possible."

Randall, Lily and Singh moved among the shadows towards the busy encampment. Coming to the back of one of the tents, Randall slipped out a knife and slit open the rear.

There was a muffled expression of surprise from inside. It was occupied ! Without hesitation, Randall dived inside, finding that the sole occupant was a worker who moments ago had been sleeping. He never even made it off his bed.

A minute later, Randall emerged, carrying three sets of the dun-coloured coveralls the workers were all wearing. They picked up a random bale of stores each and started to work their way towards the nearest Zeppelin, the German one.

They almost made it.

Then, looming up before them was a horrifyingly familiar shape.

"Papieren, bitte ? Hei !"

It was one of Von Falken's Überlegener Soldaten. Once, it had been human. Now, it was as much machine as flesh, enhanced with devices and terrible surgery to be the perfect soldier. It might have been wearing a set of dun coveralls, but it's job wasn't to haul supplies, it was there to supervise. And it didn't recognise them.

It raised it's arm and waved at a nearby Japanese soldier, a man wearing the badge of the feared Kempeitai. The solider started to jog towards them. Randall feared they were attracting too much attention.

Then, soundlessly, the Kepeitai man folded. He fell to the ground, a half-crown sized hole in his forehead. The back of his skull and brains were dripping off a nearby crate of shells.

"Good old Gurung." Randall murmured under his breath. Then louder, "Time to go !"

The trio dodged around the huge but surprised super-soldier, dropping the now-useless camouflage of heavy bales.

"There ! Up the ramp !"

The loading ramp was just a few yards away. They sprinted up it, the heavy footsteps of the German warrior behind them closing rapidly.

At the top of the ramp, Randall pulled his machete out and hacked through the mooring rope next to it. It wasn't the only one, but the front of the Zeppelin lurched into the air, the ramp dropping clear leaving the Garman standing on it looking upward, a ferocious and frustrated expression on it's face.

"To the control gondola !" Randall shouted, and the three companions started down the crazily-tilted companionway.

A couple of rifle shots pinged around them, but were deflected by the armour plating. Perhaps it wasn't such a bad idea after all, Randall thought as they ran.

Two crewmen stepped out into the corridor in front of them. Randall and Singh hacked them down, hardly breaking their stride.

Then they were at the control gondola. Singh kicked the door open as Randall and Lily drew pistols.

There were five crew there, and they died before they had a chance to react.

"Look; the main release !" Lily had spotted the mooring line release.

Randall grinned "All that time you spent on the journey trying to learn Japanese just paid off !"

"No, silly," she laughed, pulling the lever. "Look, it's in German, too, after all they built this one for the Bosche..."

The airship started to rise slowly into the black night sky. More rifle shots bounced off it's tough armour. Then, looking down out of the gondola's lower viewport, Singh pointed. One of the huge guns of the Mitakayama Battery was starting to swing around and elevate towards them. The armour wouldn't stop a shell from that monster !

"Yeah, I think I know what to do here," said Lily with a grim smile.

She moved over to one of the control panels and pulled a lever. A thrumming sound filled the air, accompanied by a steady vibration as the propellers on their pylons came to life. The ship started moving upward and forward.

Lily pulled another lever. A rhythmic clunk clunk clunk could be felt as much as heard over and over again a couple of seconds apart, the Zeppelin bucking upwards with each one.

The bombs it held rained down, half-ton cylinders of destruction. The battery and camp below lit up with huge bright flashes; the bombs contained both high explosive and white phosphorous which burned through the two Zeppelins still moored below, as well as the part-completed frames and gun battery.

Randall grinned. "Good work, Lily. With any luck the good Doktor was caught up in the inferno. Now let's get this thing back to friendly territory. It'll make a great addition to the Her Majesty's Royal Air Navy. I can't wait to see their faces when we come in at the balloon sheds in Singapore !"