//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: War Between Gods 
// by Verathuum 
//------------------------------//

	Outside awaited a small helicopter like craft parked in the grass off of the main stone path. It had two light-powered engines on the edges of its stubby wings which rotated to allow vertical takeoff and landing, like an Osprey helicopter. This particular Florian craft was known as a Gauner: it had a single pilot and was primarily used to transport light cargo or small amounts of passengers. It was powered down and its pilot waited next to the doors, ready to allow the Equestrians and the Florians inside.

“Vell, Vell,” the pilot said as they got to the craft, “I hahv noht seen yu in a long time, Tenner.” Her accent was quite thick, as though she barely knew Equestrian at all; although it was unlikely she was very fluent in it anyway. She wore a combat skin like Jolterix’s or Tennerac’s, but it had red lights instead of yellow or white and she had two metal bars over each of her shoulders and a triangular piece accompanying the bars. Behind her seemed to be more metal plates, but it was hard to tell as she never turned her back to them. Her height was in between Celestia’s and Luna’s. Her hair was a blonde color with streaks of blonde. It was too far away to see her eye color, so they just looked solid blue. Her skin was white like Jolterix’s and Tennerac’s, a side-effect of her nocturnalism even though she was from the equatorial parts of Equus.

“Yeah, it’s been a while,” Tennerac agreed.

“Who’s that?” Luna asked Jolterix quietly.

“Probably one of his ex-girlfriends,” he replied, “I don’t really know.”

“So, are vee ready tu go?” she asked as she opened the door.

“Yes, Minnescence, we’re ready,” Tennerac replied.

Minnescence, the pilot, led them into the Gauner’s small passenger bay where only four seats awaited them, and then fired up its engines. Both Florians raised their helmets when the Gauner’s doors closed. The small craft soon took off and made its way to the Gluhwurmchen, which hovered about nine thousand feet above the ground.

“Who’s in charge?” Jolterix asked Minnescence over his helmet’s radio.

“Vernerasche,” she replied. 

Jolterix’s expression changed from anticipation to a mixture of dread and doubt behind his mask and he unconsciously said, “Dammit.”

“What’s wrong?” Luna asked him.

“Venerasche,” he replied, “I was hoping Dezler would be here already.”

“Why?” Luna inquired.

“He’s not one to leave his citizens fighting a war without his being there,” Tennerac told her. 

Luna nodded in acknowledgement and for the rest of the short flight, they sat in silence. Eventually the little craft reached the fleet of large ships. Even from the ground they looked big, but up close they were massive: even the smallest was about the size of Ponyville and it could probably hold its population, perhaps even more.  The carrier ship was easily the largest craft in the fleet, and probably bigger than Canterlot. It was at least longer, anyway. The Gauner flew into the Gluhwurmchen’s hangar bay and allowed its passengers to get out. The Gauner’s outlines became exposed and it disappeared into a baton. Minnescence continued on her way to some other part of the ship.

The Gluhwurmchen’s interior, like its exterior, was almost completely jet black, save for the red lights here and there. No smaller ships, like a Vogel, light sail, Gauner or anything else the Florians might have dreamed up sat in the hangar, because they were all in their baton forms elsewhere. Instead, larger crafts aligned the massive hangar bay. Large drop ships capable of carrying fifteen or twenty people sat closest to the door, but there was easily a hundred yards between them and the door. This space was most likely used for whatever crafts might leave or enter the Gluhwurmchen’s hangar bay. Their design was similar to the Gauner, although they were bigger and had more engines. Behind them sat large planes, presumably bombers or smaller cargo craft that had more agility than a massive ship like the Gluhwurmchen and were used when their nimbleness was needed.

Several Florians walked along in the hangar but they were few and far between, a fraction of what one would expect to see in such a ship, although it was not absurd for the Florians to be elsewhere in the ship, such as a dining hall or sleeping. In the far end, deepest in the ship’s belly, stood a giant humanoid thing; it was easy a hundred feet tall and made of metal. Much of it was hidden behind scaffolding, catwalks, and other parts of the ship, but it was not hard to tell it was a behemoth of a machine. The most notable part was that there were more behind it. They were most likely the reason why the hangar bay was so tall.

“What kind of war are you preparing for exactly?” Luna asked Jolterix with a hint of fear in her voice. If they wanted to, the Florians could simply take whatever they wanted and enslave whoever they wanted with little to no resistance. Even though Equestrians had magic, she didn’t know how effective it would really be against crafts made of metal and hardened light.

“The kind where we intimidate the enemy to the point where they back off,” he replied, “Don’t worry, I doubt most of this equipment will be used, anyway. It doesn’t look like too many people came, so I’m sure Dezler thought intimidation would be the best way to go.”

“This way,” Tennerac said. He began his walk somewhat towards the metal behemoths, but more to the left and ultimately towards an opened door. He led them through a maze of black walls and red lights until they arrived in front of an open elevator. He and Jolterix led the Equestrians onto it and the elevator began to move upwards where they soon emerged in the Gluhwurmchen’s bridge.