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Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Forty Eight
🕑 Added 2024-10-11 09:04:27 +0000 UTCAs William stepped into his office, he couldn’t help but feel that just maybe some of the people inside were annoyed with him.
There was his sister, who was sitting on the couch with her arms folded grumpily over her chest.
Xela was… looking a bit haggard. Which was to be expected given she’d both been de facto running his territory while also overseeing the training of more pilots than any other person on the planet beyond the principals of each nation’s flight academies. And while she was training significantly less people than those venerable institutions, she also had access to significantly fewer resources.
Then there was Piper. Easily the least frazzled of the bunch, but hardly what one could call happy. Which, again, was to be expected given that she was to her knowledge working very hard to make sure a bunch of workshops spread about the country continued to churn out machine components with no as of yet discernable purpose.
Then there was his Aunt Karla… who was visibly admiring the gramophone – the second prototype - that sat in the corner of the room churning out its umpteenth rendition of ‘Ride of the Valkyries’. A song he was growing thoroughly tired of, but as of yet had no alternative to given that he’d yet to make any other recordings.
And while he had the capacity to magic one-up with ease, that would only lead to more awkward conversations as to where he’d gotten it.
“William, William,” his aunt chirped excitedly as he stepped into the room. “You have to tell me how this thing works! And how you came up with it! I mean, it’s playing music. But there’s no magic.”
He smiled. Karla had always been his favorite aunt. Mostly because she was both a bit of a rebel and about as disinterested in politics as someone could be and still be a noble. That she was likely here acting as a spy on behalf of his mother did little to dim his pleasure at seeing her again.
“I’m afraid the details are as of yet something of a trade secret,” he said, ignoring the grown woman’s overexaggerated pout.
“Even to family?” Karla whined.
“I can say that I stumbled across the idea during my research of the Flashbang and Spell-Bolt.” It was more than he'd told anyone else.
Karla frowned. “I know things are a bit… tense between your mother and you, but House Ashfield still has a fair amount of production capability. Certainly more than those merchants you’re working with. If you sent the details back home we could practically print money.”
Across from the woman, Olivia winced in her seat.
For his part, William’s smile thinned. “Given that the secrets to the Flashbang spell and the Spell-Bolt can apparently be found in the annals of the Ashfield library, at least according to my mother, I’m sure you’ll be able to figure it out without me with just a little reading.”
Karla paled a bit at his dry tone, recognizing the foot she’d just shoved into her mouth. One of the unfortunate downsides of being the ‘fun, devil-may-care fighter pilot aunt’, he supposed, was gaffes like this.
Still, neither of those choices had been his aunt or sister’s decision. “With that said, if either you or Olivia wanted one of your own for your personal use, I’m sure my business partners would be happy to provide us with a few early prototypes – along with a few new songs.”
It was a small olive branch on his part, though it was less aimed at his aunt and more at his sister, whose eyes widened with excitement at the thought before she recalled that she was supposed to be mad at him and sank back into her ‘grumpy’ posture.
Glancing over, he could see Piper clearly wanted to say something, even though the dwarf was holding back. Likely some question as to why he was outsourcing the production of such a clearly lucrative product when he had dozens of workshops churning out junk with no real discernable purpose.
Which was a state of affairs that couldn’t last forever. Certainly, while his people were thankful for the employment he provided – the Alchemists most of all – the fact remained that said gratitude would only keep them motivated for so long in the face of work that seemed pointless.
For one thing, he already knew that some of the more curious workers were already trying to piece together the end result of what the many workshops had been working on. Even if he’d not seen it. That was just how engineers were. And even without any kind of knowledge of internal combustion, some of them would be making progress, if only by treating the the many prefabs as a jigsaw puzzle.
“That would be a queenly gift,” Karla said finally. “One I know that both Olivia and I would be very thankful for during our… sabbatical at your estate.”
“Yes, super thankful,” Olivia drawled, eyes narrowed at him. “Sure, it’s not exactly a duchy, but a little box that plays music is almost as good. Almost.”
Ah, sassy teenage sarcasm. How he thanked the lord that the only one who really engaged with that on his team was Olzenya.
Still, he could see the puzzlement that blossomed in the faces of those present who weren’t his family as they registered the half elf’s words.
“A Duchy?” Xela asked.
Before anyone could say anything else, Karla spoke up in an act of savvy normally far outside her wheelhouse. “Olivia, dear, perhaps statements like that should wait until it’s just family present.”
“S’not like it matter now anyway. I’m here aren’t I?” The girl huffed, before jumping from her seat and storming from the room in a huff.
Karla had moved to grab the girl at the last moment, only to pause. For his part, William had tensed more than a little, eyes flitting about for signs of invisible watchers turned assassins. It was an irrational fear he knew, but he felt it all the same.
Indeed, it was with that thought in mind that he made to follow, only for Karla to call after him. “Give her some time, William. The last few days have been… tumultuous for her.”
William frowned, before glancing to Xela.
“I gave her an escort the moment you arrived. They’re just outside the door and will follow at a discreet distance.”
He nodded, belatedly recalling the slightly larger number than average guards that had been stationed outside when he’d walked in.
And there were things he still needed to discuss with the people present here.
Xela’s plebeian-pilot training program. How Piper’s refinement of their Earth-Blood supply was proceeding. As well as the state of the workshops.
Reluctantly, he decided to heed his aunt’s advice.
Though speaking of her, he thought as he glanced at the woman. If she’s here to act as Olivia’s chaperone as well as a spy, I’ll be putting her to work on the plebian-pilot program.
No program could ever have access to too many competent pilots. And even with the unexpected offer of aid from House Greygrass, William was still woefully short of the numbers he wanted.
I also need to get the alchemists started on making ammunition for my new planes now that the workshops are running properly, he thought. Which means somehow convincing them to go under a geass.
Which would be an awkward conversation all round. It wasn’t like he could just order them to do it.
Hell, not even the Queen could do that.
…And he only had a weekend to do it.
Yeah, Olivia will probably need to wait a bit before I can get around to her. So I suppose it’s fortunate that it’s not like she’s going anywhere, he thought with grim amusement.
-------------
It was barely thirty minutes after he’d finished his tour of Redwater county’s many workshops that he found himself alone in his ‘lab’ again.
Though there were a few new additions present. Prefabbed parts straight from the workshops stood strewn about the floor like so many discarded toys.
And connecting each of them was a bit of steel wire. Haphazardly welded in place, it crisscrossed the room, making the whole ensemble look like some kind of absurd spider web – with engine parts playing the role of flies captured within.
And as William raised the hood of his welding mask, he hummed in triumph as he inspected the weld he’d just made on the final piece.
I really hope this works, he muttered to himself as he moved to sit in the center of the room, hands reaching out to grasp the nearest wire.
“Steel. Warp. Hands. Mental Model. Engage. Instant,” he chanted, feeling a sudden hollow form inside him as one of his magical charges flowed out of his soul and into the void.
Where a hungry Fae was ready and waiting to enact his will upon reality in return for the morsel of emotional energy he’d just provided.
Indeed, it was barely a moment before the world shifted around him. Through closed eyelids he ‘saw’ the entire web of parts around him. Hazy and indistinct, but there all the same.
Anything that was steel and connected to that which he held in his hands.
Which was a little absurd. What he was holding wasn’t just steel. Steel was a carbon and iron alloy. But the metal in his hands undoubtedly held other impurities too. Byproducts of the forging process. Yet unlike the other bits of engine part that were made of different materials - copper wiring and rubber tubing - that seemed as a void to his senses, anything he considered ‘steel’ was clear to him.
And thus malleable.
Because magic was as much about ‘feeling’ as reality. Which made sense, as Fae were the ones who were really doing all this - and they were all about feelings. It just so happened to be that they were using his mind as the interpreter for his will.
So, he could manipulate steel – even if it wasn’t all atomically iron and carbon.
He smiled.
This… this was why even with his ability to ‘cheat’, he’d been forced to set up proper workshops for his creations rather than just using his own magic to churn them out with this little trick. An engine was more than just steel.
Well, that, and the innate limitations of metal-crafting. Mass was a factor here, which was why mages didn’t just land on enemy ships and turn them into origami with a little creative metal bending.
Creating a hole to breach through is much more doable however, he thought before he returned his focus to the task at hand.
An undertaking that would have required minutes or hours for anyone else was the work of moments for him.
Corsair Radial Engine.
He could see it. More clearly than if it were right in front of him. Every nut. Every bolt. He could see it all.
And he could see how the metal he could feel in his hands wasn’t that.
So he made it so.
Slowly, the parts around him started to move, pulled together by the wire connecting them they dragged across the stone floor of his lab. It was not fast. Nor was it easy, even with his gifts.
Tendrils sprang out from the mass of parts, each made of the same steel that comprised them - and each worked to better facilitate the process of pulling the pre-fabbed parts together into the right configuration. And though William had his eyes closed, he knew damn well what it looked like.
Like some kind of… metal variant of John Carpenter’s Thing, he thought with an amused grimace.
In the end, it required nearly four hours for the task to be done – but it did get done.
When he finally opened his eyes, bones sore and creaky and his front peculiarly wet, he found the blurry image before him matched what he’d been remembering.
“Corsair radial engine,” he croaked from a throat that was inexplicably sore.
Sure, he’d had to fix a few minor defects in the parts he could feel, and it’d need testing, but for the moment the basis of the engine existed.
Wiping something from his lips, William smiled.
And despite the throbbing in his head, he was only one spell-charge down. He still had two more left.
“Two more engines,” he whispered.
His smile widened as he looked at the veritable mountain of parts piled up in one corner of the room.
--------------
Piper actually jumped a bit when the boss of all people stumbled into her office just as she’d sat down to start the day.
Void below, what the fuck happened to him? She thougth as he stumbled over to her desk, his bloodshot eyes vivid against the pale skin of his face, which in turn too was marred by the remains of crusty blood around his nose.
Not that he seemed to notice any of it as he smiled widely at her.
“Did the conversation with your sister go that poorly?”
The words were barely out of her mouth before she was kicking herself for them. She needed to get a healer over here, not make smart-ass remarks.
Or maybe the guards? Had he been assaulted on the way over? It wasn’t likely, but she didn’t see his guards with him.
And it was the crack of dawn.
Yeah, I should call the guards and a healer, she thought.
Indeed, she was just about to put those thoughts to action before the boy spoke with an absurdly chipper expression – albeit with a voice that sounded like sandpaper.
“Piper, just the woman I wanted to talk to,” he said, barely seeming to have heard her opening remarks. “Earlier you said you wanted some kind of explanation as to what I’ve had your people working on all this time.”
Earlier? Did he mean… yesterday?
“I’d be happy to offer that now,” he continued. “To you and a few of your colleagues.”
Despite the circumstances of his arrival and the fact that she was still definitely getting both a healer and the guards, the dwarf’s eyebrow quirked with interest at his words.
Though that interest rapidly shifted to worry at his next words.
“Though before that, I have to ask, does your guild ever employ geass to protect guild secrets?” he croaked.
Taking a deep breath, she chose her next words very carefully. “I’d say that depends on the secret, my lord.”
And it’d have to be a hell of a secret for her to even consider asking her people to be bound by a geass. While a mage-knight might still be somewhat effective without the ability to cast spells – given they could still operate a shard, power a float-suit and use a bolt-bow – a mage-smith who lost her ability to contract the fea was basically just a plebian.
If anything, his grin got wider. “Well, come with me. If you don’t think what I’m about to show you is worth a geass, I’ll…” he paused, an expression of genuine befuddlement slipping across his haggard features. “Honestly, I don’t really know what I’ll do. Be surprised, I guess.”
Indeed, he seemed about to walk out the door before Piper called out.
“Ah, as excited as I am by the prospect, how about we wait here for just a moment? I’ll need a moment to get my people together. And I can see you’ve had an… interesting night. You might benefit from a spot of breakfast and a chance to rest your legs?”
He paused, reluctance written plain across his features. Finally though he seemed to look down at himself.
“Is that… blood on my shirt?”
Piper nodded slowly.
“Ah… yes, I suppose that wouldn’t be a terrible idea then,” he said sheepishly. “I, uh, I really don’t know how I didn’t notice… all this.”
He paused, before eying her. “You wouldn’t happen to have a shower around here would you? I think I might need one before I do… anything else.”
Piper smiled in relief.
Fortunately for both of them, this being a building for alchemists and thus filled with dangerous chemicals of all varieties, a shower of any kind was usually not too far away.
Comments
kusko25
Did any other Militia Tier members get an email with chapter 50 in it? Because that was a cruel thing when I started reading and realized I missed some stuff in between.
Andrew Lechner
Yay!
Blue Fishcake
Beta readers have it :D
Andrew Lechner
So, shall we get the hallowed second Friday release in a row?
Trevayne
Good questions, but the types of guns he is working on depend a lot on the type of battles he expects to fight. If he is contemplating airship to airship battles, he is going to want late 19th/early 20th century artillery, say something like a 4"/50 from WW1. If he thinks the battles will mostly be boarding actions he will want submachine guns, carbines, or shotguns.
Trevayne
It is possible that the harrowed are caused by copied minds, but it is IMHO unlikely. Harrowed individuals have supposedly been responsible for various improvements, but I don't think there are any previous polymath harrowed individuals. It isn't that William can invent a specific advance, like airships, or magic, he can invent all sorts of things from new spells, to gramophones, to explosives. As a result, I doubt that previous harrowing are minds copied in. The odds are there would be several such individuals with enough knowledge to create multiple inventions. Instead, I think they go nuts because the Fae providing the knowledge does so through a direct mindmeld and humans in contact with such alien minds go nuts. William is a complete mind copy onto a person so young that there is nothing really left. The alternate explanation for the "William" influence in that dialogue is that George's mind was simply having a mild nervous breakdown. After all, William (George) has been under a lot of stress for a long time. He has been planning and acting as much as possible for the last ten-plus years and is at odds with most of his family as a result.
Lurkemancer
To be fair, George doesn't know what question got William harrowed either.
Lurkemancer
I have mentioned my pet theory of Harrowings before and I'll reiterate - They all likely happen in the same vein. Some otherworlder's mind gets implanted into the mind of the one asking the questions; Likely a mind that contains the answers to the questions asked. This results in raving lunatics talking in tongues nobody speaks and people who are not quite there, as they are trying to reconcile who exactly they actually are. We've seen that even an exceptional case like William and George, where most of William's life was spent with George's memories, William's intentions still occasionally tug at the MC's actions. Specifically when Marline was trying to convince and reassure him a few chapters back, George's and William's heart were pulling in different directions; Assuming I'm reading the way everything was presented correctly, at least. As for William's Harrowing, I don't think it would matter much to anyone; Sure, his uniquely lucid nature might make people curious and pester him for answers, but beyond that, the Crown would not care much on the technical level, as long as he keeps delivering advantages against the Blackstones. And while both Yelena and Griffith would very much become concerned mother hens over him after finding out about it, his ability to hold a conversation alone would likely be enough to reassure them that he's reasonably fine, within a given definition of the term.
Conrad34xdsa
So with the advent of the engine, does he plan on creating a compressor in order to charge the air cannons in order to maintain a secret advantage over the rest of the world with modern firearms technology until he destroys the Monarchy. Considering he will keep the number of mages involved small, he might invent machines to aid them in manufacturing of ammo and firearms. He could start small with a open bolt submachine gun as it is very simple to make and when they can make STEN guns without issue, they can move on to rifles and .50 cal machine guns and 20mm anti air guns and finally naval cannons. Baby steps. Is William going to invent poison gas grenades/bombs for clearing ships? It would be an effective strategy to add more ships to his fleet without having to resort to blowing them out of the air. Considering he will want as many ships as he can muster for the final confrontation after the Summerfield Scuffle, he would capture ships if he could. Is William willing to use plebeian marines equipped with parachutes and submachine guns to storm the palace proper? Great story! Find out next time on Kraken-Blue-Steam!
mike wade
He already has the knowledge sense his " birth" to ask for any more would be suicide.
andreas
Best part is that we can start anticipating a Friday release!
Trevayne
I didn't say he writes everything down. I was saying that if he was faced with being executed or locked up in an asylum because he was accused of being harrowed, he could create some notebooks to show that he isn't harrowed, he is just a very gifted inventor.
James Ryan Bell
He would never write it down because he is too secretive he even splits up blueprints. Plus he is about to put everyone into a geas just to keep people quiet.
MASC
That explains so much 🤣
Trevayne
Pretty sure da Vinci and Edison used notebooks to write down and refine their ideas. The problem with being identified as harrowed is that everybody is going to think you are nuts. For that matter, I wouldn't put it past Blackstone to use it as propaganda in the upcoming war saying things like "The Queen listens to a harrowed nutjob and her policies will doom us all unless she is stopped."
22junk
I don’t know, being able to perfectly replicate complex engines is pretty compelling evidence of knowing them in your soul, and scribbling everything in your head into notebooks seems like something a nut job would do.
Trevayne
Interesting question about William's harrowing. As Andrew Lechner pointed out, the Corsair's engine is going to lead to the belief that William has been harrowed because it is just too complex to be created by a single gifted inventor. Maybe after a documented decades-long development path, but not from scratch. If it becomes a problem for William, he could produce a few notebooks and say he has been thinking about engines since he was a child and can prove it with these note books. All the rest and his working models were destroyed because he thought his family would disapprove. If he thinks that kind of explanation would do more harm than good, he can just brazen it out by saying "Talk to me, I am clearly not harrowed. Harrowed people are nuts, I am merely eccentric." We have already seen that William does not meet the rest of the profile of a harrowing victim. This part from chapter 39 shows that the harrowed are generally crazy and not all there. "“Except he’s not mad,” Isabella reiterated. “He’s wilful and impulsive, but that’s it.” She paused. “You’ve… not seen a harrowed person. They’re not… they’re barely there. Him though, he’s talking, he’s lucid, he’s making plans. He’s aware of his surroundings. He isn’t… half elsewhere.”" There is still a lot we don't know about harrowing and the answers it provides. Do most harrowing victims get the answer to just one question, or are there previous examples of inventing polymaths like Leonardo da Vinci that received a wide spectrum of answers covering different fields? We don't know, although I expect not. If there was someone whose broad range resembled William's, he or she probably would have been mentioned by now.
Trevayne
Good point, but he is going to have trouble with your last point because even he doesn't know the question that led to his current existence. They aren't going to know the question because he doesn't know the question and he has been nervous about even thinking about it. An interesting question is how well can magic determine the age of an object? If he can produce notebooks with drawings and notes covering the development of an engine, it might be taken as evidence in his favor that he is a Leonardo da Vinci type polymath genius inventor and not harrowed. Note, I assume he doesn't have actual notebooks from his childhood because he was worried they would be found. The harrowing question is also going to be interesting. The comments we have seen from in universe people about the harrowed is that they are generally mad and obsessed, with limited ability to function in society and interact normally with others. That is not a description of William. I am pretty sure everybody who has interacted with William thinks he is sane, or at most, crazy like a fox.
22junk
Worst part about getting back on schedule is I don’t get a chapter to read this morning.
Andrew Lechner
I'm sorry, but an internal combustion engine, especially one as powerful as this radial, is so complex and reliant on other preexisting innovation that there is no way that Piper and the others wouldn't believe he is harrowed. If he gives them a bullshit explanation, then they will trust him far less, since they wouldn't know what in particular he harrowed about.
RepossessedSoul
To expand on the three different engines. If the MC is relying on the Fae to give him the knowledge that he wants then the entity could very easily screw him by giving him different engine generations with different requirements.
RepossessedSoul
Why go with 'Corsair Radial Engine' when it's the Pratt & Whitney R-2800 double wasp? Quick google search gave me that and it's one of the big huddles that has to be overcome. Planes are cool but the wings and the engines are the hardest things to get right. MC can call the engine in his current world whatever he wants but the name isn't 'Corsair Radial Engine'. This could also be an issue where he gets three different iterations of engines, as I doubt that over the engines lifetime it didn't get upgrades or have components replaced. Typed on mobile so sorry for poor paragraph spacing.
Trevayne
I agree there would be benefits but the drawbacks include a harrowing victim confirming that he has been harrowed. I think he might get some of the advantages by saying he has been thinking about this stuff from childhood. That would convince them he is an engineering savant, and not definitely harrowed.
Trevayne
MASC is correct in that It is an old celtic/gaelic word meaning a vow or curse enforcing obedience. However, the plural is geasa. I expect the anime author of Code Geass thought adding the extra s made it cooler. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geas
Andrew Lechner
Since Piper and the other alchemists are already going under a Geass, I wonder just how much William is willing to share. They can't talk either way, William may elect to inform them about how he knew of the design rather than just saying what it is. Having other engineers in on the secret may allow his plans to go faster since they would know the ends he is going to and work on their own to advance that goal. Delegation and all that.
Admiralthrawnbar
Oh I know, the wait week-to-week is bad enough, I've nearly gone into withdrawal between some of the books. Having to wait that 3 week backlog would kill me
Vlad Cold
Nah, starting shard can be done by ground crew, for functions that need few minutes after takeoff, then plane is fine on it's own.
Exec_Jack
Ah but our wordsmith has provided the answer (also in an earlier chapter): They don't understand the chemistry behind it. They think there's some magic behind the 'alchemy' that William has done that is giving the gunpowder its potency. The two palace guards who have been watching him mention this, and then wonder at what the person making the gunpowder (although they don't call it that of course) has to give up in order to get the boom part to go boom. Their complete lack of knowledge is leading their version of scientists in a completely different direction to where they should be looking, and they haven't been mentioned as having figured out the gunpowder specifically is what's causing the explosions, and not some interaction between the gunpowder and the rest of the krakenslayer. In the long-term I expect that they'll start experimenting with it more, and figure it out (especially given that he's about to unveil a shard-less shardcraft that runs off an ICE), but William has also accounted for that, since his current gunpowder is essentially black powder. If necessary, William can start producing smokeless powder or a more advanced mix of nitrates to create weaponry that will out-range, out-power, and out-kill his enemies.
Basil Harpham
in this stories setting it's a magical binding oath, to break a Geas will result in longer being able to do magic or possibly death if sworn. swearing one will take some of the swearers power to do so.
Trevayne
The problem is even a 1/10th shard is taking from actual normal shards. Assuming you can get 10 1/10th shards from 1 regular mithril shard, that is still costing your side a regular shard for a minor boost. The bigger problem is that using the shard requires a mage pilot and if you need one of those, better to put them in a regular shard.
Vlad Cold
To mask it, better install shard with like 1/10 of original power, with some functions that will accelerate plane engine start, take off and altitude gain.
MarakEvans
Once you go Blue, Patron membership... can't undo.
MarakEvans
When I get high, Get high on speed... Top fuel funny car's the drug for me...
MarakEvans
! Edit suggestion: And he could see how the metal [...] he could feel in his hands wasn’t that. *Sorry, I rolled low int on reading this line*
MASC
It’s an old Celtic/Irish word called Geas from Irish and Welsh mythology. It is pretty much a vow/spell/curse. I think Geass is plural form of the word
Floplays
im sorry but the word geass does not exist, it does not translate and when i google it a dumb anime shows up, it just doesnt exist im sorry
Trevayne
The problem with trying to keep gunpowder weaponry under wraps is that it isn't just up to him. The Queen knows the formula and I expect the RN is working on alternative uses for krakenslayers, in particular as anti-airship weapons. We also know that there are some spies in her government and that everybody knows krakens are getting killed and the cores in their pairs are being salvaged.
Random Information
William should install them with fake shards to confuse the issue.
Exec_Jack
In an earlier chapter (last chapter or the one before) William mentions that he wants to keep gunpowder based weapons under wraps until he needs to fight the Queen so he has a trump card. I'm assuming he's gonna run a compressor off the engine, and even if it's performance is hurt enough to render it much closer in performance to a standard shard-craft's engine, it'll still be an incredible step forward given that you don't need shards to manufacture them. If a non shard-craft is comparable or slightly worse than a shard-craft, then the non shard-craft is incredibly good because you can theoretically create an infinite amount of them. Also be cool to see how the fact that they require fuel is taken up by its inevitable detractors.
Trevayne
It is possible they take longer for chemical propellant weapons, but it negates the whole purpose of an IC shard to use aether-based weapons. I supposed they could try running a compressor off the engine for non-aether pneumatic guns, but regular guns would work better and not impose a performance penalty by using engine power.
Kurtis S Whittington
we saw the trainees/interns that were shaping shard bodies sweating and getting wobbly/tired after. The mental exertion of focusing willing a material to take a specific shape, and having the whole piece in that shape in your head at once is incredible focus... And likely wears you out. William/George just did something an exponent more complicated (three times I might add) and the worst he got was some nosebleed and absolutely wiped.
Trevayne
At some point, William should have a talk with Olivia about her situation. Maybe she can come up with an idea that means the Queen is no longer motivated to have her killed to avoid the possibility of giving the Blackstones an edge. Even if she can't, it will help her understand why trying to become a Duchess is a death sentence for her.
Trevayne
Unless he can teach someone else how to do his flawless mage-crafting technique, he probably is going to do all the final assembly himself. These engines are complex machines with tight tolerances and everything has to work right. If not, they can seize or explosively disassemble themselves.
SpecterJedi
I am so ready for this shardless plane reveal
JaxonJak
Something, Something, Kickstart my heart!
MaybeASquid
I don't think we'll see any gunpowder weapons until later this school year, I think more fuckery needs to marinate first
Vonbaron
Fuck yeah aunt Karla even showed up. This is exactly what I've been waiting for except I want 3x this amount of words :P I love having more "mundane" slice of life bits where we get interesting interactions of individuals. THe next chapter is going to be fucking awesome as everyone sees the puzzle being assembled.
Vonbaron
You know I don't think I have ever seen the browning 50 AN/M2 be called a M3 before. EDIT : Ah looking around I see the full designation is AN/M3 and it seems to be a higher rate of fire capable variation. All those times playing warthunder and talking about ww2 era tech I never noticed.
Trevayne
I don't think he is intending a pneumatic gun armament. I expect the Corsair will use his version of a .50 cal M3 Browning heavy machinegun. Otherwise, why would he need the alchemists to make ammunition?
Trevayne
I think the engine gets assembled dry and before William tries to run it, he had better ensure it is properly lubricated. Otherwise, he might be able to start it, but I expect it would seize up in seconds.
Trevayne
I agree that a basic explosive (gunpowder) is known, since William had to tell the Queen. The big question is whether they can extrapolate it to guns and/or artillery? After all, the Chinese invented blackpowder and it took a few centuries before the most primitive firearms appeared. I expect it will come faster here because of the examples from aethercannon and boltbows. That said, I still think it will take longer to invent independently than it will for William to introduce his versions.
Marius Petrauskas
great chapter, thx.
Prometheus
The cat is already out of the bag for chemical explosives now that the queen has the plans for the Kraken Slayer. That plus the shadow of civil war having william accelerate his plans for manufacturing modern weapons.
Trevayne
I think he is going for chemical propellant machine guns. He mentions needing the alchemists to make the ammunition and pneumatic/aether guns can use nearly anything that fits in the breech as ammo. I am expecting him to start fabricating Machinegun Browning M-3. The question is whether it gets identified as 12.7mm or .50 cal. Note, M-3 rather than M-2 because it is the aircraft version.
Admiralthrawnbar
I have to say, after finally biting the bullet and joining the Patreon that was a nice 45 minutes of dopamine before I finished catching up those 3 chapters
Trevayne
I was just remembering the items identified by their proper names in the epilogue, like the AR-10 rifle and Roman pilum. It just seemed odd to use a generic name like Corsair Radial Engine when other specific weapons were identified by their names.
Exec_Jack
What a wonderful chapter! The cliffhanger is absolutely murdering me though. :( Gonna be very interesting to see an engine-powered pneumatic gun, especially given that it will almost certainly absorb some of the tremendous horsepower of the Double-wasp (wonder if Georgilliam is gonna be disappointed by that lol)
CW
A Friday chapter! And all we had to do was endure a cliffhanger! Until next week good wordsmith, I look forward to seeing everyone's reaction to the wonder that is a combustion engine.
Borisoff72
Is he going to also use the engine to create pneumatic pressure somehow to work the guns? Otherwise, how is he going to use purely pleb pilots without introducing explosive powered ordinance?
Sea Wolf
Interesting. Is this the first time we have seen a physical cost to extended spell casting? It’s probably a good thing he’s not going to be making all of the engines himself.
MaybeASquid
Oooohh. Imagine how effective building a spooky gunship would be if it had a altitude advantage with an O2 system
Borisoff72
I guess it's important to note that he now has an extra pilot to train the new pilots.
Jay
Does magical assembly negate the need for things like lubricant and sealant between the parts? Because I don't see how you'd be able to assemble an engine solely by manipulating "steel" even if you attach the rubber, copper and other bits after.
Isak Mark
Nice a friday release, good chapter. Piper was to flustered to notice she was alone in a room with William. :O
Skulldragon7
"who lost her ability to contract the fea was basically just a plebian." fea-> fey
David Ellis
I think including the proper name once would be fine as clarification, but non-technical readers won't grasp that as well as the name Blue has. As an added in-universe bonus, Blue's shorter name is more emotionally evocative, so the Fae probably like it better. Maybe chanting the proper name is less likely to succeed because it's boring to them?
Andrew
Thank you!
Jack
Hey BFC, any reason why you deside to call it a "Corsair Engine" instead of a Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp? I only ask because I've been doing some research on WWII aircraft because of this story and learned the Double Wasp was also used in the P-47 Thunderbolt and F6F Hellcat, a fact that would not be lost on George.
Random Information
... disinterested in politics -> uninterested in politics. "disinterested" means impartial ... to magic one-up with ease -> to magic one up with ease (no hyphen)
Random Information
If William does talk to his sister next chapter, I hope he tells her that she has to know who she is before she can know what she wants. (That philosophy is from the Babylon 5 sci-fi series.) Olivia thinks that she wants to be Duchess, but is it really much difference from being a countess, and is she really prepared to (possibly) lose everything to attain it?
MaybeASquid
Oh yes, I can't wait for the reaction to the roar and smoke of the Double Wasp Wonder what the sisters reaction would be if she found him before his shower
Gjim
Ill be damned you pulled off a Friday release Blue. I gotta a chuckle out the line the gramophone almost making up for losing a duchy.
Lei Fu
Bow before the power of Pratt and Whitney!
Dancingrage
Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne! Your sacrifice is accepted, and three Corsair Engines you shall have! And the next trick up his sleeve is percussion caps for ALL THE GUNS!!! Quad M134 turret, here we come!
Andrew Lechner
Oh my lord, a Friday post.
werotan
Convenient showers.
22junk
“S’not like it’d matter now anyway. I’m here aren’t I?” Or “S’not like it matters now anyway. I’m here aren’t I?”
Jake the L
I’d argue it’s setup. It’s certainly a little unsatisfying to have to wait a week for the payoff, but re-introducing Karla, and setting the stage for Will’s first big reveal are both important things. If these scenes were skipped there’d be something missing
JustShadow
Unexpected suprise, but welcome one
Jake the L
Fuck you and your cliffhanger, Fish (And in all seriousness, thank you for the chapter!)
BelligerentGnu
Gaah, a chapter that exists to tease two conversations I really want to read.
RottenTangerine
Thanks for the chapter! Itll be very interesting to see everyone react to the engine and new weapons.
NeoJungleLover
Shit about to hit the fan >:)
22junk
Many chapters ago I assumed that William would be introducing bigger and better guns, ships, bombs, etc. Now that it’s clear he’s going to throw a tidal wave of mundane planes at his enemies, I wonder if he deliberately chose this technology path to change the social structure. The warrior class has always been traditionally near the top. Since it takes a mage to create these shardless shards, the limiting variable of a nation’s military prowess will be how many mage-smiths they employ and how fast those mages can produce new planes since plebs who can be trained to fly will be for all intents and purposes an unlimited resource. Natural selection will ensure that the survivors of the upcoming wars will be those states that accept that the finite mages need to stick to the workshops and the (practically) infinite commoners will lead on the battlefield. This has to lead to at least some degree of social shakeup.
Trevayne
Another good update with lots of food for thought. Glad to see William is thinking about how he is going to arm his new shards and pretty sure that armament will include chemically propellant machine guns. Piper is finally going to get an idea of just what her people have been working on and we get a chance to see William mix engineering and magic. I have serious doubts about how a bunch of subassemblies made by different workshops could manage to fit together with the tolerances required for a WW2 fighter engine. William gets by this by using magic to make it all fit together the way it needs to. We are finally getting an idea of what William can achieve. Assuming it takes a charge per engine, he can do 3 engines or airframes a day. Assuming he has about 4 months a year to work on this, he can probably manage around a hundred Corsair shards a year. By the time the war kicks off in 2-3 years, he could have more shards than the Blackstone fleet. One quibble, rather than Corsair Radial Engine, why not call it the Pratt&Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine, since that was its OTL name? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pratt_%26_Whitney_R-2800_Double_Wasp
mraanonymous
Yeah, i noticed the shortness. Gotta tell ya man. Most don't actually care about the firday schedule. As long as the chapter is quality. This... filler, not so much. Filler- that's what this chapter is. At best, you can call it a prologue for the next arc. Disappointed, but interested.
The Fire Piper
Wow! The engines are out! Very cool story with the assembly! Thank you Blue!
Ohmps
Now he just needs to manage a way to make the engines without the people knowing them perfectly inside and out. Also preferably without basically fucking yourself up.
echo gecko ^w^
Damn, I just finished reading forty-seven
Bas van Lissum
Friday release! And a fun chapter, how great!!
Bunten44
We are so back
The Fire Piper
Hooray! Thanks for the Friday story!!
Found&Lost
Yay a Friday release
Blue Fishcake
A little shorter than usual at 2.8k, but that was intentional to get back to our Friday release schedule :D
