Emperor Napoleon 1:600 x1

By the mid-1890s, many strategists believed that heavy Aerolyth vessels could be built that could resist almost all attacks from lighter Cayley or Zeppelins. This put France, a major power with no easy source of Aerolyth, in a frightening strategic position. Although the French Air Force had some of the finest Cayleys in the sky, they faced a very real prospect of being pushed aside by a heavily armored Aerolyth-enabled attacker. Thus, the French Ministry of Police undertook a lengthy project to stockpile sufficient Aerolyth to manufacture Aerolyth ships competi-tive with the designs of potential rivals. It is not clear how the Ministry acquired its Aerolyth, but the end result was the Emperor Napoleon Class.