- For the tabletop militia, see Blake Aviation Security (tabletop).
Blake Aviation Security, also shortened to just Blake Aviation or BAS, is the premier security firm in North America. Founded by playboy-adventurer Paladin Blake, BAS has a presence in every nation in North America, save only the Disputed Western Territories and pirate-friendly Free Colorado.
Equipment[]
As the major security firm for North America, Blake Aviation had a lot of high quality equipment, aircraft, pilots, and zeppelins at their disposal. The favored aircraft of Blake Aviation is the William & Colt Peacemaker 370, a nimble, quick fighter aircraft that made combating pirate gangs and escorting zeppelins a lot easier. After the development of the Hughes Bloodhawk, the aircraft was quickly brought into the Blake Aviation arsenal, operating both as independent squadrons as well as in conjunction with the Peacemakers.
However, Blake Aviation does not only operate fighter craft. They also have various zeppelins at their disposal for when they need to bring additional firepower. Amongst their arsenal is the Light carrier-class of zeppelin, for example the Promised Land, a relatively small zeppelin class which can carry up to three full fighter squadrons in its internal hangar.[1]
History[]
Protecting Boeing Field[]
In 1937, Blake Aviation received a contract opportunity from the Boeing Aircraft Corporation to protected their secret and secure Boeing Field research facility as the corporation worked on a prototype aircraft known as the Blue Streak. This was a Hughes Bloodhawk equipped with a Nitro-booster for additional speed, created by Wilhelm Fassenbiender,[2] and so was top secret. Blake Aviation was contracted to guard the site against any threats, which would turn out to be the Fortune Hunters after they rescued Dr. Fassenbiender from the USSR[3] and he in turn told them about the Blue Streak.[2] Despite valiant efforts by Blake Aviation as well as ace pilot Peter Lincoln, Nathan Zachary managed to shoot down all Blake Aviation fighters and steal the Blue Streak.
After the heist of the Blue Streak, Blake Aviation continued to protect Boeing Field and was ordered by Boeing to hunt down the Fortune Hunters. To do so, they brought in the Promised Land which would carry enough fighters to down all the Fortune Hunter aircraft, and zeppelin mounted cannons to down the Pandora. However, Zachary contacted someone named Slippery Sam who welded the Promised Land to its docking mount, preventing it from taking off and launching its fighters as well as jamming open its broadside cannon hatches. A sneak attack by the Fortune Hunters allowed them to catch Blake Aviation on the ground, destroying many of their aircraft before they could take off, as well as blowing up the cannon magazines on the Promised Land, destroying it. While they did so, though, a squadron of Blake Aviation Bloodhawks tracked and found the Pandora above the cloud layer, attacking its engines while the Fortune Hunters were busy with the Promised Land. Despite this attempt at revenge for the destruction of the Promised Land, the Fortune Hunters were able to return to the Pandora and shoot down the attacking Bloodhawks as well as Blake himself who flew onto the scene too late to save his zeppelin. With Blake Aviation destroyed at Boeing Field, the Fortune Hunters moved away for good, leaving Blake Aviation embarrassed in the press for their failure.
Decline and conspiracy against BAS by Sacred Trust Incorporated[]
The chaos on Boeing Field at the hands of the Fortune Hunters dented Blake Aviation's reputation to many companies, which began to switch to rival company Sacred Trust Incorporated. After the pirate raids, Sacred Trust was given the task of defending Boeing Field, something further damaging to Blake Aviation's reputation.[4] Sacred Trust proved to be far better at protection than Blake Aviation which drove more people to them, and while BAS continued to get contracts, they were far fewer and less prestigious than previous ones.
Unbeknownst to them, however, Sacred Trust were working with a new pirate gang the Black Hats to target Blake Aviation shipping and contracts. Behind the scenes, the previously thought dead Lucas Miles was pulling the strings of both Sacred Trust and the Black Hats in Manhattan, passing on all the details of Blake Aviation shipping contracts. This allowed the Black Hats to target the richest zeppelins for the greatest rewards, such as the Confederation of Dixie zeppelin Ezekiel and passenger zeppelin Nathaniel Bowditch.[5] This scheme was discovered by Nathan Zachary who, when raiding the Black Hat Mansion in Sky Haven while rescuing the Black Swan,[6] found documents of it all in the mansion.[5] He rushed to the next raid, where a Blake Aviation-escorted convoy was being attacked by Black Hats and their zeppelin Dark Derby, and helped Blake protect the convoy from the Black Hats, going so far as to down the Dark Derby and not shoot any Blake Aviation fighters.[7]
Following this uneasy truce, Zachary got into contact with Blake and passed over all the information he knew. The two agreed to work together to take down Sacred Trust and the Black Hats, albeit for different reasons. Zachary had a personal vendetta against Miles, while Blake wanted to restore the honor and public faith in Blake Aviation. The two groups made their way to the Empire State and Manhattan to bring Sacred Trust to justice.[5]
Taking down Sacred Trust[]
Upon arriving in Manhattan, Blake set some of his men as undercover agents to find the whereabouts of where Sacred Trust was hiding its stolen goods. One of his men, Cabbie, discovered a warehouse of goods and notified Blake and Zachary. Blake attempted to get the authorities there to arrest the workers and secure the goods, however he was being slowed down by bureaucracy and the need to convince the Empire State's president Fiorello La Guardia that Sacred Trust was actually a secret pirate gang,[8] prompting Zachary to fly there alone and destroy the warehouse.[9]
The attack prompted a Sacred Trust accountant, Waldo Carney, to attempt to flee aboard the luxury zeppelin Arcadia which was bound for Germany. Somehow, Sacred Trust discovered this and planned to destroy the zeppelin, with Waldo along with it. Blake Aviation deployed squadrons to stop them, but they were all shot down,[10] resulting in the Fortune Hunters coming to the assistance of the Arcadia and rescuing Waldo, who was delivered to the NYPD building and the authorities.[11] The resulting mass exodus attempt by Sacred Trust after their cover was blown was also stopped by the Fortune Hunters,[12] and with the downing of both the Sacred Trust zeppelin Dante as well as the shooting down of Lucas Miles by Zachary,[13] Sacred Trust collapsed and Blake Aviation regained their position as the primary security firm for America.
Notable Members[]
- Paladin Blake
- Peter Lincoln
- Cabbie
Appearances[]
Trivia[]
- In a beta version of Crimson Skies, Blake Aviation was also going to operate Kestrels, however this was changed for the final game.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Peril for Blake - briefing
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Pilfered Prototype - Briefing
- ↑ The Red Menace
- ↑ Chapter 3 cutscene
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Chapter 5 cutscene
- ↑ Rescue the Black Swan
- ↑ The Unholy Alliance
- ↑ Death on the Docks - Briefing
- ↑ Death on the Docks
- ↑ The Runaway Witness - Briefing
- ↑ The Runaway Witness
- ↑ The Criminal Exodus
- ↑ Battle Over Broadway
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