Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/Samael Assault Plane

"..."

-...

The Samael Assault Plane is the for the Grey Steel Order. This unit is planned to be voiced by

History
"Flying Arsenal Steals the Show at Toronto Air Show."

-By Julia Grey, Allied Nations Science Digest

Short story
Yesterday saw the thirty-first annual World Informal Air Show, hosted this year in Toronto, Zemuria. The Informal Air Show was started in the Aquilan States as a way to celebrate the achievements of aviation mechanics and pioneers whose work hasn't been accepted by the Alliance or other legitimate powers and has since become an informal shopping market for the National Guards and other second-line military units from around the world. Aquilan designs have historically stolen the show, notably the P-38 Lightning, F6F Hellcat, F-86 Sabre, and F-4 Phantom II, all rejected by the Alliance and none of which ever saw large-scale production or service outside the Aquilan States. Although the show once awarded prizes for aircraft judged the best in the competition, embittered so-called genius Clarence Johnson, former manager of the Lockheed Martin "Skunkworks" before that company's bankruptcy and dissolution and current head of the World Informal Air Show board, stopped the practice and insisted that the show existed to honor those ideas that never quite worked out.

This year's show, though, was something else altogether. Talon Aviation, an apparently new or at least extraordinarily low-profile company, ran away with the show when they presented the Samael, a modern update of the famed Dr.1 triplane of the Hawke War, made famous as the plane of choice for Manfred von Richthofen, the notorious Red Baron of Ironforge. The Samael's graceful profile greatly resembles its predecessor, marred only by sections of polished armor plating and a multiple-launch rocket system built along the triple wings. Talon Aviation's representative, one Claude Leland, declined to go into detail on how the triplane had been improved under the hood, but there's no mistaking the throaty roar of a radial engine for anything else.

Leland's boast that the Samael matched the performance of modern aircraft was no idle boast, either. The Samael wowed spectators and judges alike during its demonstration flight with surprising agility for a triplane design and a magnificent ability to climb and dive on a dime. When the time came for mock dogfights against a selection of modern Aquilan air power, the Samael outflew its Hawker, Firebolt, and Nimbus rivals, and made an impressive showing against the Apollo, which Claude Leland claimed would have lost in a dogfight due to the Samael's superior durability and endurance. While such boasting is not unheard of, Leland then shocked the air show by refusing to offer the Samael's schematics for review and potentially sale to legitimate military forces, claiming that doing so would be against his principles.

Needless to say, Leland was denied first place in the air show for refusing to abide by the purpose of the show and rumor has it that Talon Aviation is now under investigation by Alliance authorities for illegal weapons development. On the other hand, terrorist leader Dennis Hoffhassle has released a public statement of admiration for Talon Aviation's willingness to stand by its principles and defy, in his words, the heavy yoke the Alliance wishes to place on all the world's industries.

P.S. This is the second time I've attached an article by Julia Grey to your morning brief. First the cold-weather trials of the Calliope, now this. I do not presume to judge the actions of Templar Leland or suggest anything to the Grand Council, but this woman is intelligent, observant, and too clever by half for a reporter. She could be dangerous to the Order. Or, perhaps, useful.

-Scribe Deirdre Winters, morning brief for the Grand Council