Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/Zhukov War Zeppelin

"Zhukov has arrived!"

-Zhukov War Zeppelin

The Zhukov War Zeppelin is a type of Voshkod airship and a offspring of the Kirov Airship. Planned to be voiced by.

Tactical analysis

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History
"Enemy spotted behind that cloud! Helm to 105! Gun bays open, and alert the aerial squadron. We have the dogs now!"

-...

For years, the Kirov Airship had reigned supreme as queen of the skies. No airplane came close to its size. But to the Voshkod chagrin, in recent years it seems every world power has a massive airship that challenges the Voshkod superiority not only in that area but also in pride. To that end, the Politburo took the unusual step of intervening in Red Army matters by ordering Krasna Aerospace to stop work on new Kirovs (the backlog of half-finished airships would mean losses would be replaced) to instead make a new airship. It would be unlike anything made before and would ignite the imaginations of workers everywhere, enough to take their minds off degenerate Allied "comic" books and other fallacies. Though initially a propaganda venture, it was thought that the only thing better than making a larger airship than your enemies was to use your larger airship to blow up others.

To that end, Krasna worked feverishly on the problem. When the entire Politburo was invited to view the unveiling of the new airship (along with almost every camera in the Union), expectations were high. It is an understatement to say that these expectations were exceeded in every way. The new twin-hulled zeppelin was simply the largest thing to ever fly; so large, Krasna had to make its main hangar door larger just to let it out, and this hangar was designed to hold multiple Kirovs. Between the gas cells in the zeppelins, massive guns stood ready to blast any enemy slow enough to be caught by the large shells. Suspended between the hulls was the gondola a bridge designed to easily control the monster, along with crew quarters and the Zhukov's secret weapon, a hangar.

Since early calculations determined that these alone might not win against a hypothetical foe, Krasna dipped into an old Aquilan concept of airship-carried airplanes. They designed the MiG-29Z interceptor for this purpose alone, a derivative of the popular Mikoyan MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter carrying nothing but air-to-air missiles and lacking any landing gear, instead using a ring built on the top to grab onto a hook that would carry them into the hangar. The whole airship was dubbed the Zhukov War Zeppelin after the great Kvant Division general, whose sacrifice was pivotal in defeating Aleksandr's coup, and was sent on a tour of all Communist nations, though its crews were more eager to find a worthy foe.

The Zhukov had its chance to prove itself soon enough. An unknown airship, the only clue they gathered was that it had the symbol of a talon, announced its presence in Mor Dhona airspace when it razed several remote outposts. When several fighter squadrons and Barrage Balloons dispatched to neutralize the threat failed to report back, the Voshkod decided to send the Zhukov "People's October" to bring down this threat. After several days, the "People's October" finally encountered the unknown airship and engaged it in combat.

Over the course of the duel, the two airships circled and bombarded each other with their weapons. However, despite the unknown airship's strange thermobaric weapons and outdated, yet effective, technologies, the "People's October" had the edge with its MiG-29Z fighters, which destroyed the turrets and propulsion units of the unknown airship until it was crippled. Finally, a full salvo from the Zhukov was enough to send the damaged airship down, wreathed in smoke and flames. Later, ground forces sent to recover the strange airship's debris did not find any sign of it, leading the Voshkod to believe the airship was completely destroyed somehow. The Zhukov had proven its worth beyond a doubt, and now the skies are dominated by these massive symbols of Voshkod might.