From the diary of the Lt-Captain Afonso Miranda Teles, Captain of the Light Cruiser "Cidade de Lisboa" and Commander of the Venus Expedition:

November 14, 1911.
I decided we would go in the “Cidade de Lisboa” and not in an Ainduren zeppelin. It would remember the Karroom of our might and it would show us as a independent force that could mediate the meeting. We had to go down into the atmosphere five times until we were over the meeting site and we could descend into the ground. The air around us wailed and screamed and for the first time I liked it. I guess the Karroom were impressed with it. Into the meeting I chose twenty guards from the marine complement of the cruiser and myself, Sa'atia, Mr. Pessoa and the five women from the High Council. When we reached the place, a beautiful meseta, the Karroom were already there. I counted fifteen, a very acceptable number and a declaration of wish to parley. I must confess that I was impressed by their leader. It must be a very old Karroom, a big one, with a leathery skin and the lack of the right arm. Probably lost in a old battle against the Ainduren. As we get close to them, Sa'atia gave me her arm and I felt her trembling beside me. I could understand the difficulty of walking unarmed towards an eternal enemy. We stopped one hundred feet away from them and the leader and a very young – it seems – Karrom walked with him towards us. They walked slowly, as if it was difficult for the leader to move. They live under water, I remembered so this should be really difficult. The young Karroom had a pole in his right hand with one of those strange light they use and as they reached us he showed us his left hand opened. I smiled. There are common ground between us, I thought. I imitate him immediately and after that, Mr. Pessoa showed them a series of drawings that showed where we did come from. The leader kept his eyes on the drawings and on me. After some drawings were made between the younger Karroom and Mr. Pessoa, to clarify some points, the leader showed a drawing of himself. It was so beautifully draw that if was impossible to mistake the image from another. After that he showed a drawing of a wave and of a Karroom eating a Venusian eight-fins fish. Wave Eater, I said, that's his name. He looked at me. I pointed to myself and said Afonso. And surprisingly he tried to imitate the sound of my name. Awfully, I suppose, but still I clap my hands and made the sign for yes that we already had accepted. He looked happy to be able to communicate with us. Then he showed us the terrible thing. Sa'atia started to cry and I had to stop seeing the drawing just to comfort her. In a succession of images we saw the arrival of Sa'atia ancestors to Venus by the eyes of the Karroom. As they arrived and settled, the Karroom went to them to initiate conversations. And then, they saw that the human settlement was over the birth lakes of the Karroom, and the humans were drying them out. As the Karroom went to their children rescue, the humans opened fire with the electric weapons they had. All the Karroom were killed. The humans built their city over the dried lakes and started harvesting wheat over the bodies of the Karroom babies. The everlasting war began that moment.
A terrible silence followed this revelation. Sa'atia talked with the rest of the High Council mentally. Mr. Pessoa and the young Karroom were drawing to each other and suddenly Mr. Pessoa laughed and we all looked at him and magically he patted the Karroom in the arm as if a good joke was said and the air around us lightened a bit. I, for myself, offered my looking spy glass to Wave Eater and explained him how it worked. He was moved by my gesture and so he called one of his aides. I received from his hands a very beautiful dagger made of a strange material that by drawings he explained me it was made with the tooth of a sea monster. When Sa'atia returned she draw an offer to the Karroom. The end of the war. The moving of the Ainduren city to another place in the continent. The remake of the lakes. And that the Ainduren would forever be the guardians of the nesting lakes of the Karroom. For some time, the Karroom leader was still as a statue. Then he moved near Sa'atia and touched her face with his old hand. Then he pointed at me. I understood. He wanted me to be the judge of this accord. I knew he is a soldier. I knew he would understand my actions. I stepped forward and I drew the dagger he offered me. I made a clean and deep cut in my hand and as the blood spilled from it, I offered him the dagger and my hand. He made the same and we shook hands. We stayed there for three days discussing the future. I sent the cruiser to give the news to our expedition and to the Ainduren and me, Sa'atia and Mr. Pessoa camped near the Karroom. That night embraced to Sa'atia I asked her if she wanted to be my guardian also. I already am, she replied. I will have an hard time to explain all this to the Portuguese Admiralty, but I am as happy as a man can be.

[attachment=0]peace meeting.jpg[/attachment]

From the diary of the Lt-Captain Afonso Miranda Teles, Captain of the Light Cruiser "Cidade de Lisboa" and Commander of the Venus Expedition:

December 21, 1911.
Christmas is near, up there in earth. Here, the night is slowly coming. The day is getting greyish. The long night. The sailors are longing for home. Even those that found a lover amidst the Ainduren women. I told this to Sa'atia and she replied that all of us would have a nice surprise very soon. Although I asked several times she didn't told me why. The works are going fast. The Ainduren are a very decided and focused people. After the first problems with moving out the city, they put their hands to work and the city is growing fast, five miles away from its original place. The first time the High Council announced this, the Ainduren women started a riot. I deployed the troops from all the ships and that worked out. But not because the women were facing troops or because the troops were armed. It worked because the women didn't want to hurt men. Things are different in different worlds. When I understood this I couldn't stop laughing. Some of my men were hurt in their feelings, but the warm treatment that women give them all, was enough to make them forget the humiliation.
The Karroom are helping the Ainduren engineers to remake the lakes. They are making strange pools and the worst of the bad feeling is dissipating. Not all though. The Karroom reported to me that they had some in-fighting with a faction that wants the complete obliteration of the humans. We have the same, but the scale is small. I myself have also an insurgence in some of my men. Yesterday Commander O'Dunagan had a meeting with me. The captains want to go home. All, except the Canadian freighter commander, Patrice Montreau, are with Commander O'Dunagan. I scheduled a meeting for tomorrow. This can be the end of my plans. Can't you sleep, my teszh, Sa'atia asked me. Teszh means, the one for my heart, in the child language of the Ainduren. No, I answered, the night is long. Shhh, she replied, the night is sweet. You'll see. 

From the diary of the Lt-Captain Afonso Miranda Teles, Captain of the Light Cruiser "Cidade de Lisboa" and Commander of the Venus Expedition:

January 03, 1912.
The first design of a Venusian Ether Ship is done. With several Karroom and Ainduren engineers helping Mr. Sarakura I think the heavy works will start in less than ten days. The technical staff is strangely more capable of handling the social and racial differences between us all. Mr. Sakamura is more alien to me than some of the Karroom, so that must be why they coexist so well together. The rest of us are having more problems with the new co-existence between all of us. Some Ainduren women were caught trying to poison some of the Karroom lakes. Happily Sa'atia had anticipated these kind of problems and we had guards there. On the other side wave Eater told me that the Karroom military tried to grab the reins of power.
The fleet wants to go home, but the men are divided. How will I handle this? I need them. I will need them very soon. We are testing the electrical weapon the Ainduren invented. We will try to use it in the ether ships in the next weeks. Commander O'Dunagan asked me if I wasn't scared that the weapons we were giving to the Venusian could be used against Earth. I told him that now I was more assured that the weapons from Earth would have more difficulty being used against the Venusian. Commander O'Dunagan nodded as if he confirmed something he already suspected. Do you find me a traitor, Commander? I asked him. He smiled. You aren't a traitor, captain, but you'll have a hard time convincing the brass back on Earth. And he left.

Hi:

I didn't decide stop writing things up. I had an accident and with recovery and work I didn't had time or mood for it. I'll be back shortly with more.

From the diary of the Lt-Captain Afonso Miranda Teles, Captain of the Light Cruiser "Cidade de Lisboa" and Commander of the Venus Expedition:

February 09, 1912.
We mounted the electric cannon in the bow of “Cidade de Lisboa” and we tried it against a large empty container we ejected into the aether earlier. The electric cannon fired a beautiful ray of blue light that crossed the space in a curved trajectory. We had to fire it seven times to hit the container. The ray is erractic, but devastating at close range. The container exploded in a most enjoyable way. We returned very confident with the prospects of the weapon. If we have time enough to build all we need to build the Martians are in for a big surprise. Mr. Sakamura made also another experiment while in orbit. The manned self propelled missile created by the Karroom. A suicide torpedo. I'm against the use of such a barbaric weapon, but the Karroom are adamant. If it can stop the Martian invasion, they will use it. The torpedo moved in a smooth way around our ship. Everybody in the crew felt the same dread. A terrible weapon to be used against any kind of aether vessel. I patted “Cidade de Lisboa” in a reassuring way that I didn't felt.

We landed at the construction site. Ainduren and Karroom working together. The hulk of 10 aether combat ships are lined side by side. The engineers saluted us as we left our ship. I smiled and a joyous shout erupted from the group. They patted each other. I smiled.  Four month ago they were fighting to death and now they were embracing celebrating a joined victory. I must feel grateful to the Martian for being the murdering bastards that they are...

Gashai Class Cruiser
Gashai means Deep Fang in Karroom language and it is the name of a big hunter of the deep that Karroom fear and worship.
The Gashai class cruiser is a joined venture with technology from three different cultures. Earth technology, Karroom and Ainduren. Although it is Earth technology that ensures the frame of the vessel, it is built with Karroom combat philosophy. The weapon systems are a mix from the three cultures. Earth well tested cannons and torpedoes, the very experimental Electric Cannon from the Ainduren and the very effective Suicide Torpedoes from the Karroom. The Martian attack prove the Gashai class effectiveness, but how will it behave against other more common aether ships?

[attachment=0]Karroom cruiser.jpg[/attachment]

Gashai-class cruiser (55 pts)
Hull: 15
HVP: 2
TR: 4, AV: 2
Primary: 4/d8(x2)
Secondary: --
Light: 8/d4(x1)
Torpedoes: 6/d12(x3)
Equipment:
Suicide Torpedoes (3)
Electric Cannon
[Hull] [Armour] [Thrust] [Primary] [Secondary] [Light Guns]
[1-12] [13] [14-15] [16-17] [--] [18-20]

New Weapons

Suicide Torpedoes (Saraesh Barsh)

Saraesh Barsh means “lances of will” and it is a Karroom weapon. A big torpedo guided by a suicide Karroom pilot that will drive the enormous warhead against an enemy hull normally doing a terrible amount of damage.

The Suicide Torpedo will hit an enemy ship in a 5+ in a D6. If it fails the first attempt and it isn't destroyed by enemy fire it can attempt one more time. If it hits roll a D6. If the number exceeds the Armour Value of the target, the Torpedo will make that exact number of hits. It will travel at 12” each turn and can make one 360º turn each movement phase. It will move as per the fast attack craft movement. They must try to ram the nearest enemy ship. They can be targeted as fast attack crafts.
It costs 10 SU and the modifier to point value is (Thrust+8)x2 to OR.

Electric Cannon

The Electric Cannon is an Ainduren invention. Upgraded to fit a aether ship, it was Mr. Sakamura who made the changes that made it a very effective weapon. The Ainduren wanted to call it Sakamura Cannon, but Engineer Sakamura wasn't very thrilled with the idea.

Due to its very heavy components it must be fixed as a Keel Bombard. It only fires in the front arc of the ship. A D12 is used to hit the target and target's Armour Rating will be ineffectual.  It will make 1 hit and a roll of 1D6 will subtract from the target Thrust in its next activation phase. Also a target successful hit by the Electric Cannon will move only in a straight line in its next activation phase.
It costs   12 SU and the modifier to point value is (Thrust+20)x3/4 to OR.

Note: These two weapons were designed by me. Not official or officially. I played only once with it and it felt good but by no means indicates ballance or a lot of play testing.

Alasai Class Frigate
Alasai means Lover from Faraway in the Ainduren language and it is a tribute to Earthlings and maybe to Lt-Captain Afonso Miranda Teles.
The Alasai class Frigate is a joined venture with technology from three different cultures. Earth technology, Karroom and Ainduren. Although it is Earth technology that ensures the frame of the vessel, it is built with Ainduren combat philosophy. Earth well tested cannons and torpedoes, and the Electric Cannon from the Ainduren. The sole role of this frigate is to stop cold the enemies so that the other ships can pound them to death.

Alasai-class Frigate (19 pts)
Hull: 6
HVP: 2
TR: 6, AV: 1
Primary: --
Secondary: 4/d8(x2)
Light: 6/d4(x1)
Torpedoes: --
Equipment:
Electric Cannon
[Hull] [Armour] [Thrust] [Primary] [Secondary] [Light Guns]
[1-8] [9] [10-13] [--] [14-16] [17-20]

[attachment=0]ainduren frigate.jpg[/attachment]

From the diary of the Lt-Captain Afonso Miranda Teles, Captain of the Light Cruiser "Cidade de Lisboa" and Commander of the Venus Expedition:

May 10, 1912.
The Ainduren made us a strange offer and a stir permeated the entire fleet. It's a hard gift to receive and a hard gift to refuse. I summoned my crew and gave them a speech. I was concerned with the crews of the other ships and right I was for it. Some hours later Commander O'Dunagan asked permission to enter my ship. I invited him to my quarters and served him an Oporto wine, waiting for him to address the problem. He drank slowly and after his glass was empty, I poured again while he complimented my wine. “I don't know if I should call you Captain or Admiral”, he said. Good start, I thought. “Well, for you I'm a Captain, but for the Ainduren Forces, I'm their Admiral. And the reason beyond it is that they don't have another one.” He drank a little more. “Not true. Not true. You are a good Admiral, Captain.” I nodded in appreciation. “What bothers me”, he continued, “it is this thing of offering me Venusian citizenship. I'm an American. It suffices me to be an American. But if I decline won't it be rude? But why do they want me to be their citizen, when I only want to be an American. If I was a nation I wouldn't want a citizen of another nation who likes his nation. And what about you, Captain?” And after he vented his concern he looked at me in a nervous expectation. I wet my lips in the wine and started with the reasoning that I had made for me and for my crew. “They want you also as their citizen exactly because you are an outstanding American citizen. They don't want you to betray or leave the United States of America as a citizen. If you were capable of betraying your nation for a petty reason, I guess that they wouldn't want you as a citizen. Being wanted by another nation or world is a reason of pride to you nation, not shame. Means that you are such a good citizen that another nation want that kind of citizen in their numbers. Very soon I'll be an Ainduren. I won't stop being Portuguese for that reason. Portugal won't lose a citizen. Portugal gains a richer citizen and by that it becomes richer. And I'm putting my life in risk for Venus and I do like these people. I even am going to marry one of them.” He nodded. “I see. And do you think that our brass back home will be of that opinion?” I laughed. “I don't know. But the truth is the truth no matter what.” He put down the glass in my table. “I must leave. Things to do. Thank you for clarifying my thoughts, Admiral.” I nodded. “I'm still Captain.” “Not if I'm also a Venusian, Admiral.” I watched him leave. Venus would get several hundreds of citizens in a few days. What would Earth think about this in the near future?

I wanted the Martian walkers of the second coming to be very near H. G. Wells vision but different enough to portrait tech advance and correction of past errors. Like WWI tanks versus modern tanks. I started to draw my own vision (very induced by other artists - we can't escape that) of the original walkers from War of the Worlds and then after that, I made several sketches and I finnaly end up with this.

Completely sealed. Heat ray much more accurate. More limbs for better ground movement and better tentacles.

What do you think?

Walker from the Original Invasion
[attachment=1]MartianWalker 1.jpg[/attachment]

Walker from the Second Invasion
[attachment=0]MartianWalker 2.jpg[/attachment]

THe impression I got reading "War of the Worlds" was that the 'ship' that landed on the Earth ws effectively a large hollow shell - like a huge hollow bullet.

The walker they used was like a 'milking stool' with three legs.

This isn't exactly that, but I like it. I can't remember what Dan said...

[attachment=0]MartianWalker09.JPG[/attachment]

Here's a few more...

[attachment=1]MartianWalker08.JPG[/attachment]

[attachment=2]MartianWalker08-A.JPG[/attachment]

[attachment=0]MartianWalker06.JPG[/attachment]