1/32 sculpt due 2019 Imperial Zeppelin defence flyer Yukio "the Cloud Assassin"
another of the emperor's "special" children it is not long before yukio's inherent samurai skills become evident. A master swordsman at twelve years old he seems blind to danger and amuses his master with daring feets of bravado. his geisha sisters take him to their hearts and in him the spirit of bushido is strong...
1919...
he is the first to strike a blow at the enemy during the first great air battle of the chino-nippon war. surprised by an attack of new, high altitude chinese fighter aircraft directed from a strange, kite-like airship the crew of the emperor's floating palace rush to their defensive posts. enraged by this afront to his master yukio recklessly throws himself from the Zeppelin's flight deck and, watched by his horrified sisters free-falls toward the enemy's command ship. he crashes into the blimps silk covering, its billowing bulk cushions the impact as it tears and he finds himself, unscathed, inside the elaborate cathedral of fabric and aluminium. he draws his ancient family sword from its sheath on his back and sets to work slaughtering the panicked crew among the beams and buttresses of the craft until he reaches the captain's gondola, blood-soaked and mad-eyed. surrendering immediately, the captain orders his swarm of fighters to withdraw and yukio directs his prize to the flight deck of the "imperial cloud", waving from the glazed gondola to his sisters and his emperor as they watch it approach, open-mouthed.
inspired by his example a squad of enthusiastic volunteers is formed and, using age old kite-building techniques, sets of wings are developed to aid their defence of the mothership. these wing flyers do not expect to return, merely making contact with an enemy aircraft is enough to send it and them hurtling to oblivion. Yukio sees many of his brethren sacrificed and fall the twenty thousand feet to the earth below, yet he miraculously survives every assault aided, he insists, by "a divine wind"...
all content copyright luftkrieg1919/aviattic 2016 '