The Divine Wind Is a Dragon's Breath (High Res)

From the author of "Bombshells" and "Tentacles and Torpedoes" comes "The Divine Wind Is a Dragon's Breath," a pictorial history of Imperial Japan's kamikaze pilots and dragons during the Second Great War.

"Japan was blessed by a long and fiercely loyal relationship with its vast population of dragons, but not by dragons of great size. As a small island chain in the Pacific, Japan's food chain could not support dragons of a size and strength to rival the behemoths from the West. They, however, compensated for their small size (the largest dragons only able to carry one rider) with a fierceness and devotion to the Empire that shocked and dismayed the Allies.

Few sights were as terrifying for Allied aviators as seeing a lone, small, and swift dragon careen into a bomber dragon in their squadron, followed closely by its rigging and crew falling into the sea, and finally the slow, sad drift away as the immense beast peeled away from formation. For although the Japanese dragon would almost invariably soon drop lifelessly from the sky, unable to survive the power and ferocity of the bigger dragon's counterattack, its suicidal plunge was merely a gambit designed to allow its pilot to clamber onto the Allied dragon's back.

For the Japanese had, early in the war, realized that their populace of dragons, as numerous and proud as they were, were hopelessly outmatched as weapons by their more powerful Western cousins. But, when used as delivery devices for the Kamikaze pilot-- the true weapon-- one tiny dragon with one skilled pilot could neutralize a dragon and crew 20 times its size. Kamikaze pilots were skilled warriors, highly trained in sword and pistol, and unmatched in speed and skill.

It was a testament to that terrible swiftness that Kamikaze pilots were successful as often as they were, for upon alighting upon her target's back, she had to secure her line, cut loose the rigging securing the crew to their dragon with her katana or otherwise kill them with pistol, and then take secure control of the enemy Captain by holding a blade to her throat or pistol to her head, all while dodging small arms fire and keeping from being tossed off by a wildly rolling and bucking dragon. But once she did securely hold the captain hostage, the dragon was hers, so bereft would the Allied dragon be at the loss of his crew and the threat to his Captain's life.

A successful Kamikaze attack thus was a crippling psychological weapon, as it subtracted a powerful weapon from the Allies and added it to the Japanese force. As fiercely loyal as Japanese dragons were to the Emperor, readily laying down their lives in defense of the Empire, so were Allied dragons loyal first and foremost to their Captains (thinking the concept of patriotism rather silly). A Western dragon would not think twice about fighting for the Japanese if it meant keeping his captured Captain safe for the remainder of the war. With this knowledge, even unsuccessful Kamikaze attacks were an effective psychological weapon, as before every mission a Captain would have to look down at her own pistol and think about how she might have to use it. Would she be skilled enough to use it to successfully repel a boarder? And failing that, would she be brave enough to save one last shot for herself, if it meant keeping her dragon out of Japanese hands?"