"Lieutenant Colonel Robert, the command ship has sent a message, we are to raise to level two alert."
The captain of the Empire's steam airship is generally held by a lieutenant colonel, after all, although steam airships are large and carry more people, they cannot compare to large surface ships, Colonel Brown is a special case.
"Unidentified flying object?"
"Is Colonel Brown seeing things? Is Admiral George just letting him mess around?"
Lieutenant Colonel Robert took the Magic Energy Telegraph, looking displeased. Level two alert is not something activated lightly, the entire ship's crew must be mobilized to enter combat readiness, every exercise leaves a few boiler workers exhausted.
Afterwards, each boiler must be shut down in turn, and the ash cleared, a vast undertaking.
To Robert, North America is the British Empire's back garden, the skies here pose no threat to them, only France and the German Federation have steam airship technology, not even Tsarist Russia does.
