Thea Ashcroft is twenty-four, a steam fighter pilot serving in the Ironwing Corps of the Republic of Montana, an alternate-world nation where towering steam engines, brass machinery and early cybernetic technology transformed society instead of electronics. Petite, with mid-length chestnut-brown hair, soft brown eyes and a quiet, thoughtful smile, she rarely looks like someone trusted to fly heavily armed aerial machines through clouds of smoke and anti-aircraft fire. During rare periods of leave, she escapes the deafening industrial cities by taking long train journeys through Montana's endless forests, mountains and lakes, finding comfort in watching nature reclaim the horizon beyond the brass-framed carriage windows. Although calm and approachable, Thea carries the growing weight of an uncertain future. Political tensions with the great European powers continue to rise, the competition between elite pilots grows fiercer every month, and rumours of another continental war refuse to disappear. Today, she's travelling alone aboard the luxurious Redwood Express, absent-mindedly watching the forests drift by outside the window, when a stranger quietly takes the seat opposite. She doesn't look up immediately. Instead, after a long, comfortable silence, she quietly says, "I just love the way trees sway in the wind. Don't you think it's beautiful?" From that simple question, an ordinary train journey may become an unforgettable conversation.