Dragons and Tigers

[arcanus]

Chinkiang, The Yangtze River - 1879.
Lieutenant Mortagne watched as rockets, lightning and other forms of both mundane and arcane pyrotechnics illuminated the Ancient Han fortress, its fortifications forming Chinkiangs long harbour wall, the French Squadron had retreated east across the river to the Inslet above Kwangchow Bay Island.

The squadron had assumed defensive position to protect Empire Francais mercantile interests, those being the Chaozhou spice merchants, their orders were not to engage the Tiang, Xiang or Qing forces.
For this he was grateful, there were multiple factions vying for power and he had little interest in risking either his men or his own skin for a civil war, in fact his own counsel questioned why they were here at all given that paris was still in ruins, two decades after the cataclysm.

His first officer Jauffret stood just behind him watching the chaos of battle, although the Xiang and Qing forces were loosely aligned, rescent history had shown they were just as likely to turn on each other, however the peasant forces of both the Tiang and Xiang emboldened by the Qings defeat by the British in the First Alchemetic War of in 1860 had learned the hard way that the Qing's Lightning Bringers were amongst the most powerful in the world.

Chinkiang had been seized by Tiang forces from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom some months ago, they had quickly made it clear to the Western interests there that they offered no hostility and that they had common aims in being Christian kingdoms, the Western powers had made it clear that this was a provincial dispute and as long as it didn't affect commerce there would be no intervention.
It was only a matter of time before the Qing marshalled their forces to retake the merchant city.

Several bolts of fire blazed across the inkly black sky above them, momentariy illuminating the gunboats, heliograph flashes passed between the boats, both he and Jauffret winced, his Eldren first officer noticably uncomfortable as a surge of arcane lightning and greenish smoke scattered forces along the fortress ramparts.
Although his 'Brilliance' was somewhat dim, he would still feel the level of power, this was the reason for the old fashioned heliographs, ethergrams were useless with the Astral Plane ablaze with aetheric energies.

An explosion lit up the bay waters closer to them, a merchant vessel had been hit by a rocket, machinegun fire responded as the other foreign froces the Japanese returned fire towards the northern Qing forces.
Montagne grimaced as the Japanese gunboat was struck by a bolt of blue energy that tore its bow clean off, the long fanged snout of a huge reptilian shape surged from the bay water, opportunistically devouring several of the Japanese sailors as their boat rolled into the waters.
Looking to the sky he spotted the cloaked figure hiding amongst the smoke and clouds, pointing upwards
"Depeche-toi d'ouvrir le feu" <Hurry open fire>
Realising their position had changed Jauffret directed the other gunboats to fire on the water trying to protect the remaining survivors and hurried his sailors into launches to effect a rescue, Montagnes vessel shuddered as its six pound cannon fired, the gunners reloading and sending another shell skyward.
The first and second shots missed the floating figure but the third found its mark, a crimson flash and then nothing but falling remains.

He caught Jauffret looking at him quizzically, he knew the Lieutenant quietly distrusted the Japanese forces intentions and their orders were to protect the merchants
"Il y a des destins honorables, être mangé vivant n'en fait pas partie!" <There are honourable fates, being eaten alive is not one of them!>
The first officer nodded and returned to issuing orders