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Aircraft Design Company- Matsura's Planes Are Always Fastest!

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Character Sheet
  • Informational


    • ​
    Stress
    0​
    Office Stress
    0​
    XP
    5​

    Matsura Asuka
    Head Designer for Ohara Airworks
    Age 24 (Legally 25)
    Year 12 AF (After Flight)

    Design Stats
    Aerodynamics Engineering - +2
    Structural Engineering - +2
    Chemical Engineering - +1
    Mechanical Engineering - +1
    Ballistics Engineering - +1
    Electrical Engineering - 0

    Personal/Political Stats
    Social Skills - 0
    Politics Skills - 0
    Importance - 2
    Income - 1
    Investments - Ohara

    Resources
    Power - 0
    Wealth - 2

    Designs
    Type 1 Series - Military Variation (Designated T1M1)
    Type 2 Racer (World Speed Record October 1910-April 1911, 180kph)
    Model 2 Scout (Designated T1M2)
    Navy Scout Prototype (Drowned Rat)
    Dive Bomber B1M1 "Duck"
    Machine Gun Carrier R1A "Dragonfly" (World Speed Record May-July 1911, 200kph)
    Naval Rescue Water-Landing Supply Plane NR1M0 "Dolphin" (World speed record 240kph)
    Rhino Demon Train Hunter
    The world's first airliner
    The world's first pulsejet airplane

    Assets
    Slide Rule
    Computator (1 Reroll per Routine)

    Languages
    Albian
    Gallian

    Familiar Vices
    Drinking
    Prostitutes
    Dancing

    Family Life
    - Engaged to Arita Yachi, formerly the leading Ace in the Imperial Army. Designated #1 Cutest Army Boy, he's having some serious problems with PTSD right now.
    - Taking a second try at dating Mikami Kiho, ex-dockerwork from the south.

    Upgrades
    - 3 XP to upgrade a stat.

    Ohara Airworks
    Start Up, Imperial Capital, Akitsukuni

    Owner
    - Mr. Ohara, Rich. Aircraft Enthusiast. Business guy.

    Engineers

    Kibe Koume, 26, Office Manager
    Tiny & angry, Kibe went to school in Albia, picking up the language, the religion, and a fuckload of swear words. Speaks Albian.
    Mechanical +2, Ballistics +1
    Office Manager: If Kibe is not assigned to a team, the Office Stress is reduced by 1.

    Sakane Jun, 26, Second Team Leader
    A soured patriot, Sakane is married and has a young child being raised gender-neutrally. His two brothers who fought in the war.
    Structural +2, Aerodynamics +1
    Team Leader: If there are any additional projects, Sakane will lead them.
    Joinery: Sakane has training in the traditional Akitsukuni carpentry art of joinery, creating complex self-supporting joints with no fasteners or glue. When working with non-monocoque wooden spars or ribs, +1 Structural.

    Tezuka Kenji, ???
    A stoner with occasional flashes of insight. Nobody really knows what he does, but he's probably useful?
    Aerodynamics +2, Chemical +1
    Flashes of Brilliance: Each natural 10 rolled by any team Tezuka is assigned to gives +1 forward to the next research roll.

    Hasegawa Morio, 26
    A hopeless nerd with a photography habit, mostly on account of developing his own film, Hasegawa seems to do nothing but work and stack card houses, but somehow has an incredible attractive boyfriend. Speaks Gallian.
    Chemical +2, Ballistic +1
    Silent Workhorse: Hasegawa can work on two different projects at once for no cost to Office Stress, providing they use different stats.

    Kawamura Yosai, 25.
    Serially successful womanizer and incredibly attractive, Kawamura doesn't seem to have much of a personality outside of seducing women. Well, except for that time he seduced Asuka, which nobody talks about. Speaks Dyske.
    Structural +2, Electrical +1, Social +1
    Easily Distracted: If Kawamura is working on the same team as a female or non-binary employee, the team is at -1d10.

    Koide Hatsu, 24.
    One of the few female graduates of an Akitsukuni engineering school, Koide is brilliant and incredibly driven, but her first job at Akibara was both humiliating and exposed her to an abusive coworker. Her father is a rich businessman with factories in Joseon, and she's engaged to Ken from Castles of Steel. Speaks Joseon.
    Mechanical +2, Structural +1
    No Sleep: If you let her, Koide will work herself to death. She can work a second project for no Office Stress, but all her stats will be reduced to 1 for the routine.

    Kobayashi Ayao, ???
    Disowned heiress of the Kobayashi family, all Kobayashi wanted was a career and to be a modern woman. For her trouble, a cousin threw acid on her, scarring her face, neck, much of her torso, and her left arm. Despite appearing serene and above it all, she's actually an avowed communist activist and baseball player.
    Aerodynamics +2, Social +2

    Adachi Ren, 24
    Adachi learned chemistry from her father, one of the most famous chemical engineers in the country, rather than through formal schooling. She's married, has a kid, and takes spirituality very seriously. Yes, you did the math right, she had Yuki when she was 17. It's 1912, folks.
    Chemical +2, Electrical +1
    Young Mother: Adachi will cause double Office Stress if she has to work multiple tasks.

    Uyeno Sei, Ballistics Engineer, 31.
    The oldest member of the crew, this is Uyeno's second career. Her first was as an officer in the Imperial Navy with specialized technical training: her very promising career was cut short by her transition. Her work in a naval arsenal on machine-guns landed her the job here. Briefly dated Satomi (the age range is a bit creepy but again, 1912), she's missing a piece of her ear and is deaf on that side, from an exploding cannon. Recently returned from Varnmark from experimental surgery, she's known for her skill navigating gendered bureaucracy.
    Ballistic +3

    Mi Kyung-Jae, 23
    A recent graduate of the Imperial College of Heijo, Mi is from the recently annexed territory of Joseon. For those keeping track at home, that means he's a Korean national living in Imperial Japan in 1912. We haven't seen much of his personality because he's rightfully terrified of everything around him. He has a specialty in endurance engine design and modification. Speaks Joseon.
    Mechanical +1, Chemical +1
    Endurance Engines: Mi has an excellent understanding of metallurgy and tolerances. Any engine he works on gains +1 Reliability if a 16+ is rolled.
    Pulsejet Wizard: Mi is now one of the world's leading experts on the pulsejet engine. He can be given his own project to custom-craft pulsejet engines, and he gives +1 to any pulsejet-related project.
    Joseon National: Mi does not have security clearance to work on any top-secret projects.

    Miyoshi Shigeri, 23.
    A non-binary person and admirer of Asuka's work, they were in an support role in the Army before joining the company.
    Structural +1, Mechanical +1, Aerodynamic +1
    Mechanic: Miyoshi has some experience repairing and refurbishing aircraft. They get +1 if assigned on the clean-up phase.


    Other Employees
    - Ohara Satomi, 22, Mr. Ohara's niece and the company test pilot, Ohara is a general lesbian disaster. She's good at flying planes, driving cars, and kissing girls. She's bad at being patient, being respectable, and sticking to literally anyones conceptions of gender roles. Deeply in lesbians with Coralie D'Amboise.
    - Fujkikawa Sotatsu, old, modelmaker. He's an old man and toymaker and we don't see much of him because he locks himself in his workshop a lot. He's friends with Kawamura?

    Assets
    - Engine Test Rig (Allows engine tweaking and optimization.
    - Wind Tunnel (+1 Aerodynamics)
    - Rapid Prototype Lab (+1 Clean Up)
    Expanded Cast

    Akitsukuni Industry
    - Homura Mohoko: Head Engine Designer for Kobayashi. First female engineer in the country. A lot of sex appeal.
    - Okumura: Head of Akibara aircraft design.
    - Yamanaka Hajime: Kobayashi engineer. Young and eager.
    - Igarashi Masazumi: Kobayashi engineer. Reserved and experienced.
    - Admiral Akibara Toru: Imperial Navy Admiral. Maximum nepotism. Maximum douchebag.
    - Lt.Cmnd Akibara Shinzo: The above's son. A hottie but very forward.



    Character Families
    - Matsura(?) Mizuko: Asuka's sister. Was paralyzed in an accident in Asuka's first flight. Lives Elsewhere and is married now. Can't forgive Asuka, even though she's tried.
    - Adachi Motoki: Adachi's husband, an accountant. Legally blind.
    - Adachi Yuki: Adachi's 7 year old daughter and wannabe pilot. Very adorable.
    - Yachi's Brother: Exists.
    - Sakane's Wife: Exists. Drives him a bit crazy, but he loves her.
    - Yachi's Brother's Wife: Exists. Is statistically likely to be pregnant.
    - Lt. Coralie D'Amboise: Gallian pilot in exile. Satomi's girlfriend. 25. Accomplished bisexual duelist. She flew in the war for a single day, and for her troubles got a hole blown in her cheek and had her left arm paralyzed.

    Akisukuni Army & Ex-Army
    - Lt. Torio Tanaka: Yachi's former observer as an enlisted man. Was jumped up to fly Ducks and lost a leg on his first mission. A trained painter, married to Torio Saya.
    - Captain Amari Shiro: A Dragonfly pilot who ended up flying as Yachi's partner. Kind of delightfully twinky. They sorta slept together at one point, which wasn't great. He lost his previous boyfriend in the April Offensive and turned his plane into a shrine. He was shot in the gut and is still recovering.
    - Major Izuhara: Logistics officer, Imperial Army, this bespectled officer stood up to the Caspian Crown Prince and accidentally kicked off the Akitsikuni-Caspian War. The guilt was so much that, after almost a year of running Army procurement, he shot himself in a phone both.
    - Captain Nakai Sekien: Army scout pilot. First person to drop a bomb from an airplane, later head of the Duck Squadrons.
    - Captain Teshima: A Desk pilot that fought with Yachi. Lost an arm in the process, took over for Major Izuhara after his death. Seems cheery despite it all.
    - Captain Nashio: A real piece of shit dude and probably a rapist, he's also a war hero as the second-highest scoring ace on the Akitsukuni side. He was a young shitty kid in way over his head but it's no excuse.
    - Lt. Kinjo: Kind of a dumb lump and Nashio's friend, one of the desk pilots. Dead at 19.
    - Lt. Okazaki: Yachi's friend from before the war and pilot, he died in a spin in his dragonfly. His death probably hit Yachi the hardest.

    Westerners
    - Rose & Antoinette Sears: Pioneers of flight. Sisters. Black in 1910s not!America. Yikes.
    - Timina Guasti: Famous aircraft designer from Otrusia. Likes big planes and green.
    - Prince Protasov Vasilyevich: Crown Prince of Great Caspia. Real dick. You gotta hand it to him though, a decent flier.
    - Count von Zeppelin: Invented rigid airships. Runs a successful airline business. Damned impressive.
    - Bennhold: Aircraft Engineer. Experimenting with metal aircraft.
    - Aileen Middlemiss: Albian reporter for the Artimis Times. Well meaning and oblivious.
    Available Tech
    • Materials: Wood, Duralumin, Molded Wood, Wood & Silk Composite, etc
    • All engine mounts
    • All wing types
    • Basic reinforcement
    • Wing warping and ailerons
    • Basic water radiators
    • Flying Wings
    • Semi-Monocoque design (requires at least half the slots have frame pieces)
    • Valved pulsejets
    • Basic weapon mounts and turrets
    Tech not Yet Developed
    • Custom engines
    • Monocoque construction
    • Cantilever Wings and associated tech
    • V and T tails
    • Tailless designs
    • Aluminum and titanium
    • Cellulose surfacing
    • Any kind of radar
    • Weapon accessability mods
    • Interruptor gear
    • Geared propellers
    • And Maybe Other Stuff
    Akitsukuni
    Island Nation

    Government
    Constitutional Monarchy
    - The democratic portions of the government are dubiously legitimate.
    - The head of state is the Empress of Akitsukuni. She gives her blessing to newly formed governments.
    - The Navy and a small number of families have undue influence on politics.

    Economy
    Developing Mixed Market
    - Most industry is controlled by a small number of wealthy, family-owned companies.
    - The state provides most contracts to industry. Consumer good market is anemic.
    - Exports are few, mostly cultural.
    - Imports are raw minerals, food, oil, and expertise.
    - Currently suffering an economic crash after the last war.

    Politics
    The Diet is currently ruled by a Constitutional Nationalist government. It has a system of nonlocal proportional representation, with representatives appointed by the party in accordance to their share of the vote.
    - Constitutional Nationalists: 50%
    - Purity Club: 9%
    - New Independents: 26%
    - Fairness Association: 11%
    - United Communist League: 2%
    - Monarchists: 1%
    - Assorted Fringe Parties: 5%

    Demographics
    Akitsukuni is mostly very ethnically homogeneous. Around 5% of the population are various minorities, most from nearby countries. Roughly .1% are westerners here for business or in advisory positions.
    - Population: 55 Million
    - Religion: Mostly Kodo. Roughly 2% of the population follows western religions.
    - Wealth: Most wealth is concentrated in the top 5% of the country. Nearly 20% of the population lives in conditions indistinguishable from peasantry.
    - Urbanization: Heavily urbanized for a small economy: 35% and rapidly growing.

    Military
    At Peace
    - Imperial Akitsukuni Navy (IAN): The 6th largest in the world, and the most experienced.
    - Imperial Akitsukuni Army (IAA): 150,000 highly experienced soldiers, and a considerable reserve.

    Aspects
    - Poor Resources: Aluminum costs +1.
    - Damn Akitsukuni Engines!: Engines have -1 Reliability.



    The Main Character Of This Quest Is Nonbinary And Uses They/Them Pronouns.

    I Am Putting This Here Because The Next Person To Misgender Them Is Getting Yeeted Into The Trash

    Also here's the Gayaverse TV Tropes page, because why not.​
     
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  • Informational
    • Himmelhand said:
    What about the future fate of Asuka and Yachi as a couple? Do they adopt? Should we expect Yachi to stay in and climb the ladder, or might he become disillusioned after his experiences in war, and thus become the political voice that would be out of character for Asuka themself to be?

    It would be a neat solution to Asuka tending to remain in their chosen field while still impacting the larger world outside of aircraft design by influencing the opinions of a politically relevant figure (Yachi, retired from the Army into a seat in Parliament).

    Also the two should totally adopt because adorable kid scenes.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Lots of orphans soon enough...
     
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    The Duck-billed Drunk from Tokei
  • Sidestory
    • The Duck-billed Drunk from Tokei
    Part 1​

    It isn't very manly. Not something you want to admit to.

    Pissing yourself, that is.

    If the shame isn't enough, the frigid wind takes it from discomforting to dangerous. The only saving grace is that this high in the air not even Shoichi knows that you've done it. Well, that and the fact that you have far more pressing concerns. Like the reason you soiled your flight suit in the first place.

    The fire, the smoke, the blood, the hate. The fear.

    Noise, pure and relentless, pounds you. Thunderous engine just beneath you, literally pushing you ever closer to the maw of hell. Other planes all around. The staggering, heavy fire of the anti-aircraft artillery. You aren't even near the railhead. The keening of a passing shell puts shivers right up your spine. Another explodes not far away, the passage of the shrapnel like the sound of ripping canvas. Every time it comes near you frantically look to your wings with your heart in your mouth, cold sweat on your brow. Each time you expect to see your wings in tatters, presaging your last lonely flight to terra firma.

    Where was your duel of samurai in the sky? Where was the glory of serving the Empress, the great adventure of a lifetime? Why are you on a hellbent run to perform potentially lethal acrobatics all for a chance to obliterate some Caspian you never knew with a ruddy big bomb. What minds of sickness and depravity come to the conclusion that flying a canvas cart thousands of feet above a dirt trench - an innovation that in your view appears chiefly intended to provide a pre-burial service - is somehow sane or sensible.

    These are all things you think of before the cannons start, of course. For once the violence begins, there is no room for thinking. Fear, yes. Terror, yes. Instinct and nerves, yes. Anything else is is driven out by the smoke of bursting shells.

    Another crack-and-rip sound of a shellburst heralds a change in the pitch of engines around you. One your adrenaline-pumped senses picks up immediately. Off your right wing, a Duck shudders, smoke now belching from the engine. Even from here you can see the bombardier is slumped in his seat. But the pilot doesn't seem to have noticed yet. With the plane quickly losing altitude with a half-dead engine and shredded wing canvas, the pilot has far more pressing concerns.

    Your own bombardier turns in his seat and yells up and back at you, screaming to be heard above the droning propeller behind you. "Tama, Tama! Fuck, was that Saito?"

    "Saito? Shit!" you bellow back to be heard over the engine. "I think it was!"

    "Shit!"

    As the crippled Duck descends from sight to the ground below, bile nearly burns its way free. Fuck, what are you even doing here?

    You just wanted to fly.

    -

    Seven weeks ago...

    "Cheers!"

    Glasses clink and amber liquid flows. There are nearly thirty of you there; young men all in civilian clothes. Many rounds have come before this and you are sure many will follow. At the back of the bar a young woman frowns on a stage, her singing drowned out by the rowdy cheers. Patrons are heading for the door, driven out by the exuberant party you belong to, but you have other things on your mind. Such as the fact you now have brothers - dozens of them in fact. Brothers that before today you have never met, nor even suspected.

    Your beer goes down the gullet with all the bitterness you have come to appreciate, the long seconds passing as you hold your breath and drink it down. When the beer runs out, for now, you come up for breath, your satisfaction popping like a bubble with a "pshaaawww".

    A woman with a rather sour expression appears beside you, glaring at your new friends. You're the closest one to her, so it is your great fortune to get the full weight of her ire. "Shouldn't boys like you be in uniform?"

    Yesterday a comment like that would have ruined your whole day. Today? "Men like us belong in the air, sister," you retort, face bright with laughter. You jerk a thumb over your shoulder. "Welcome to the July induction of air corps pilots!"

    She doesn't want to be impressed.

    She tries not to be impressed.

    In the end, she's impressed.

    "Wait, a pilot?" she blurts out. She pauses a moment, a hint of embarrassment at her outburst. Now this was interesting. You give the girl a much closer look. A modern girl, with a western-style dress and adorable eyes you think you can lose yourself in if you aren't careful. Her hair is short and curled, like the Galllic ambassador wears hers. The woman continues on before you can reply, "Like Captain Arita from the Dawn Star?"

    "You read Dawn Star too?" you blurt, hoping you've found a kindred spirit here. Wait, your libido warns you, don't get sidetracked. Humble-brag time. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, like the Captain." You pause and give an earnest little shrug. "Well, probably not like the Captain, but I want to try my best."

    "Oh, I'm so jealous," she replies. "Getting to fly. I wish I got the chance. I'd join the air corps if they would let me. Is that why you joined?"

    "Well, it was a few things," you reply. "I'll get the chance to take a piece out of some Caspian noble. I hear you have to be up the food chain to be a Caspian pilot, so this way I don't have to worry about killing a poor conscript. You know what I mean?"

    "Oh, yeah! It isn't the fault of the common Caspian peasant, it's the nobles," she replies. "That's what Nakano Yuki wrote in her editorial."

    "I read that too," you say. "But most of all, I want to fly. This is like, free pilot training. What's not to love?"

    That makes her roll her eyes, and for a moment you think you've said the wrong thing. But then she hesitates, glancing down, then up into your eyes. "It's very dangerous though. When do you start the training?"

    "Tomorrow morning," you say. "So it's time to celebrate today."

    The woman smiles at you. "So it is. What's your name, pilot?"

    That puts a frisson up your spine. "Tanaka Tama," you reply.

    "Suzuki Naoko, nice to meet you. Want to go somewhere quieter?"

    -

    Eager, bright, and smiling, marching to their future glory; that is how the July induction of pilot candidates advance into the hanger. According to the brief article describing the event in the local community paper, anyway. The reality ... is a sad and sorry lot of hungover young men dragging themselves over the aerodrome yards under the disgusted gaze of your instructors. You yourself are no less hungover, though you walk with a cheerful whistle. Every time your newly issued flight suit shifts across your back, however, you wince. Naoko has sharp claws. At least you have someone beside your mother and siblings to write to now between missions. Your old man is already over in Joseon with the 6th Artillery, a gun number on a ... you think his last letter said it was a 105mm? In any case, you're sure that you'll be able to see him yourself when you get there; Joseon isn't that big a country, right?

    A series of study desks are arranged two deep in a semi-circle around a chalkboard, where two women are waiting, one of them a foreigner. The famous Lieutenant D'Amboise the papers talk about? You'll soon find out. But as you got closer, you realise that behind the chalkboard, in the rest of the hanger, is the stuff of dreams. Real live airplanes. A biplane in iridescent Akitsukuni blues and whites. From deep within a hunger is roused, almost bestial in its need. They're beautiful and by the Empress, may she reign ten thousand years, you will fly one.

    Further back is a mammoth aircraft, one that staggers you with its size. Is this the rumoured Dolphin? If so, it's even bigger than you ever imagined a plane could get. Surely that thing can't get into the air?

    "What are they bringing us now? Drunkards and louts?" says the foreigner, but the unfamiliar language goes right over your head. It doesn't sound complimentary, particularly not with the sour look on her face. Her colleague puts a hand on her shoulder and tells her to hush, but the suppressed laugh in her voice gives you the impression that your class looks even worse than it feels.

    "Take any available seat," announces the local instructor, getting back down to business. She gestures to the desks around the board.

    Like your colleageus, you file in and find a seat. After some shuffling aobut, you find a place just to the left of centre, where you get a better look at the two women. The foreigner is downright frightening, with plentiful scars and a stare as hard as the steel that made them. The local has a smile, but her eyes are cool and sharp as she surveys your colleagues. After a few moments of inspection, she presses her lips thin, clearly not yet impressed. Well, she'll be impressed once you all get in the air. Of that you are positive.

    "I am Ohara Satomi," introduces the local instructor. "The chief Ohara Airworks test pilot."

    "I am Lieutenant Coralie D'Amboise of Gallia," adds the foreign pilot in rather accented Akitsuni.

    "Welcome to the July Induction of Imperial Akitsuni Army Air Corps pilots," begins Satomi, voice a little distant as she goes through what is clearly a well-worn spiel by this point. "You have been gathered here from across Akitsuni to learn to serve your Empress in a new type of endeavour: the war in the air."

    "Oui. This is a six week course - three parts," takes over Coralie. "One week book - three week in air. Two weeks with final plane." She pauses for emphasis and looks across the class, seemingly looking straight through every last one of you. "And then? Joseon."

    "This course ideally takes place over six months, not weeks," admits Satomi. "But the Empress expects, and Grand Caspia challenges, and so we have to make do. The Lieutenant and I are experienced pilots, which is why I have taken the first test flights for every Ohara prototype. We know these planes and we know how to give you the best chance of getting to the end of your training without splattering yourself into a dumpling wrapper on the side of the runway."

    That gets a somewhat nervous chuckle out of your classmates, but neither of Satomi and Coralie are laughing.

    "Oh that's no ... ah, no funny matter," says Coralie. "The T1M2 flies over one hundred kilometers hour - steam locomotive fast. Step in front of that train? Splat. Fly that into ground? Same splat."

    "These planes," says Satomi with an arm sweeping to the waiting canvas and wood constructions, which suddenly seem a lot less inviting to your eyes. "They can kill you. Actually, let me be clear: these planes will kill you, if you don't respect them."

    "This... this booze," begins Coralie, before ostentatiously sniffing with disdain. "You all still stink of it. No more booze. Study only. You choose: life or death. Study, respect the plane, or die."

    -

    "Alright, Trainee Tanaka, that's enough speed!" yells instructor Satomi from the observer seat as you hurtle down the grass runway at an increasingly terrifying pace. "Pull back on the stick and let's get some air!"

    "Spirits protect me," you mutter. With a great heave you haul back on the stick. It's hard going - you need to really draw on your strength to get the plane to respond. Thankfully, for all you are a student ... well, were a student, you grew up on a farm. The conditioning of farm life doesn't leave you easily, and you are as wiry a bastard as you'd ever like to meet. Still, it takes a while for you to get over your fear of breaking something on the plane and put your weight into the stick, and pretty soon the end of the field is looming large.

    "Now, Tanaka! Give it grunt!" yells the voice behind you.

    You haul back and close your eyes taut. The first indication that it's worked is that you aren't dead yet. The second, is the weirdest sensation you have ever felt in your life. It's like your stomach was being pulled down. Right through your hips and down into the world below. You open your eyes and look around to find that you have ripped free of the tender bonds of terra firma. Up, up, and away from the aerodrome, the wind whipping across your face, driven by the propellers roaring ahead of you.

    "Alright, Tanaka, just hold it steady now," yells Satomi, leaning almost out of her observer seat. "Get us some more air."

    The canvas ripples with the airflow, a steady undertone to the powerful mechanical hammering of the big Kobayashi powerplant. Guide wires and frames wine with the flexing of the wings. Before any of your class flew, Satomi said they call this plane they Desk for how smooth and comfortable the ride is. The hell with that! This feels like you're riding a tiger, something alive and wild that soars to the clouds, that rips its way free of gravity on mighty thews.

    Time passes slowly as you watch the ground recede like a memory of restraint. Is that Tokei off to the side? Is that the bay? How different the world seems from up here. The fear is gone, the wonder is all around you. This is a majesty you have dreamed of, but no dream can match the view from hundreds of meters high. You need to find a way to get Naoko into the observer seat for a flight!

    "That's good, now level it off and ease back the throttle!" comes the next instruction. You comply, pushing forward on the stick until the plane stops climbing. It's still finicky and you have to wrestle with it a bit to keep to level flight, but you still get a moment to relax and just take it all in.

    "This is incredible!" you yell back over the sound of the engine.

    "I know, right!?" says Satomi with a laugh, the most personable you've seen your imperious instructor so far.

    To be honest, you never want to leave the cockpit again.

    -

    Present Day

    You would give almost anything to be anywhere else as you hear the shriek of a shell pass within a dozen feet of your plane, the shockwave of its passage buffeting you. Every second in a Duck is a fight against the off-centred engine and the urge to nose up, but this is an altogether tougher challenge. Like a young fool who took on the festival arm-wrestler, you fight and wrench the stick around to counter the movement. The shell bursts some twenty metres above. The angry insect buzzing of the shrapnel is loud and clear even above the engine.

    "How far now?" you cried to Watanabe, your bombardier.

    "At least five mile!"

    Anywhere else but here, anywhere else.

    -

    To be continued
     
    Last edited:
  • Sidestory
    • Both world wars did that. The first created a sort of worldwide network of bush pilots and modernized a lot of postal systems, the second produced the modern airline industry. Heck, the Vietnam war is the reason we have news helicopters.
     
    Still no update. It's christmas prep time now.

    Hey let's play a game.



    What gives away the fact that this plane is a reproduction?

    If you know the answer, let other people guess, please!
     
    The radio antenna? Though I suppose it's technically possible that they drilled a hole for in in an original plane.
     
    The engine doesn't seem to have the same blur as the prop, which implies it's a radial and not a rotary. Does that matter?
     
    open_sketchbook said:
    Both world wars did that. The first created a sort of worldwide network of bush pilots and modernized a lot of postal systems, the second produced the modern airline industry. Heck, the Vietnam war is the reason we have news helicopters.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Yep. Which is why it's a wee bit strange that barnstormers are a thing now, rather than after the WWI-analogue (which this might snowball into). After WWI, there were a lot of planes that armed forces didn't need, a lot of people who had learned how to fly, and a lot of other people who had learned how to make airplane parts real good.

    Which is why in Barnstormer Quest, the FC Post Office is a major sponsor of aviation, because there needs to be some reason for tramp pilots to fly. (Well, okay, there needs to be some reason why tramp pilots have enough money to keep flying. They don't need a reason to fly, they need a reason to stay on the ground.)
     
    Yeah it was kind of a throwaway line. Oops!

    But it fits with Gaya's general "technology is adopted faster and used for silly things" vibe.
     
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    8-5: Separate Destinations
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    • Soldiers ran out to pull away the shattered metal targets and what was left of the wooden frame, and everyone shifted their attention to the train expectantly. Major Izuhara pulled himself out of the trench and got your attention.

    "Okay everyone, this we'll just be a minute. We're going to get the train running."

    There were excited murmurs. Even you thought this would be interesting, despite the butchery involved.

    After about ten minutes, some figures ran out of the now-smoking train, and it was time.

    "Alright, let's do this quickly before she cools down. Machine-guns!"

    The guns fired to predictable effect on the train. "Right, you didn't come here to see that. Let's get the 20mm!"

    It took a few shots to find range (the shells, which had some kind of smokey tracer, plunged deeply) but once they found the train they blew the crude metal plating off it in chunks. They were fixing mixes of explosive and armour-piercing, but none of the shells found their mark in the boiler before the clip ran out.

    "The 25!" Izuhara looked like a conductor ministrating over the world's loudest and most discordant orchestra. The 25mm fired a steady beat, and one of the shells finally struck correctly. There was huge cloud of smoke and steam from the stack as the coal and boiling water met, and the thump of the pressure vessel failing could be felt through the ground. A few seconds later, little bits of something started pattering down around the trench like rain. Something pinged off your helmet.

    Spirits, was this what it was like at the front?

    Izahara laughed, ignoring the tiny shrapnel. "I was worried about that. Mikami, could you finish scrapping that for us?"

    Every shot from the pom-pom blew chunks of the train, like some giant fist smashing apart a toy. You barely saw any of it, huddled against the lip of the trench. But when the belt ran out and one of the women yelled "rounds complete!" you glanced up to see little more than a smoking crater, filled with vaguely train-themed metal pieces.

    ---

    While the two teams climbed out of the trenches and went to inspect the remains of the train (attended by the range boss, an older enby who was strictly lecturing them to stay away from anything unexploded), you took the chance to talk to Major Izuhara. There were some chairs set up near the trucks, and you got to watch the two teams tear down their weapons.

    "Thank you for the demonstration, Major. It was very enlightening." You said. He nodded.

    "Not a problem. Figured it would help to have you eggheads get a practical understanding of the tools of the trade." He handed you a canteen, and you were actually somewhat disappointed to discover it was actually filled with water. "Besides, not every day you get to blow up a train."

    You winced. "Yes, that was quite spectacular. So, the planes?"

    "Oh, right, yes! I had a word with the intelligence guys, we're in a bit of procedural trouble because the Navy wants Akibara to have them back for the upcoming contest, so last I heard there was full-on lawyers involved. But I can arrange for you and some members of your team to come inspect them on the 15th. I will say, the Akibara guys were not nice to them. I don't think any of them will fly anymore."

    Of course they weren't. You were beginning to get more than a little frustrated that Akibara was allowed to persist as the largest company in the country, filled as it was with idiots, brutes, and toadies.

    "Thank you." You took another sip from the canteen and watched the team pick over the train. You saw Sakane try to climb up into the engineer compartment and be foiled as the ladder snapped away in his hands, leaving him tumbling.

    "How are things with Major Arita?" Izuhara asked casually.

    "Major?" You said.

    "Oh, guess he hasn't told you. He got promoted about... two weeks ago I think? He's in charge of one of the Dragonfly squadrons now."

    You felt... odd. Maybe a little betrayed? You hadn't thought it too strange that his letters had been getting shorter, but to leave out such an important fact...

    "No, he didn't. That's good to hear, though." You said calmly.

    "You take good care of him, okay? When he gets back." Izuhara said. He sounded distant. "He's been through a lot. I don't know if it affects airmen the same way, but..."

    He was talking about war neurosis, which was the diagnosis being passed down for the men who came back from the trenches with conditions not unlike the ones the doctor described to you from your concussion. Tinnitus, difficulty remembering, motor issues, fatigue, difficulty sleeping, tremours... but their symptoms didn't let up in a few weeks. Some doctors thought it was the concussion of shell fire bruising the brain, while others thought it was a form of psychological breakdown. Either way, there were thousands of families whose sons and husbands came back physically whole, but disabled, crippled in some way mentally. How many more would there be, when demobilization came and a million men streamed back home?

    A few weeks ago, to put a stop to the panic, the War Office had banned the words "war neurosis" and any articles about it in any publication. The euphemism you'd heard was 'trench sickness'.

    "I will. I promise." You finished the canteen and handed it back, and you sat and watched the guns being wheeled away. You glanced at him frequently: he looked distant, troubled. His easy smile wasn't there.

    "How are you doing, Colonel?" You asked.

    He shrugged. "Fine enough. I just do paperwork and sit in the base. They won't let me go back overseas, in case I get captured..." One of the first sets of demands the Caspians laid out was for Izuhara to be turned over to face trial for his crimes against the Caspian royal family. Those demands were still on the table, and your government had, obviously, not budged on it one bit.

    "Do you want to be over there?" You asked. Yes, it was prying, but a degree of that was to be expected from you.

    "No. Yes. I... don't know. Sometimes I wish they'd just. Sign the treaty. Ship me to their courts, end this thing." He passed you his canteen, and this one had something stronger in it. Poor man.

    "I'm sorry." You said, uselessly.

    "It's not your fault. I don't begrudge you a bit. My only regret right now is I didn't go for the prince's throat." He said bitterly. "Come on. Let me give you a tour of the AT-TA." His smiled flashed back on his face, and you let out a sigh of relief.

    ---

    Four days later, you learned through the procurement officers that Colonel Izuhara was dead. He'd called his partners from a phone booth near the government building, then shot himself in it. He left a note indicating that the government was now free to sign the peace deal, and apologizing to whoever had to come clean the booth.

    The news hadn't seemed real to you. He had just been there, full of personality and cheer, laughing and showing off. Was that in him the whole time? Why didn't he say anything? What could he have said?

    You'd found out when you phoned the procurement offices to get a clarification on the size of an element of the 25mm gun, and a different voice had answered the phone. A Captain Teshima. The name sounded familiar: you thought he might have flown with Yachi.

    You got another letter from him. This one the shortest yet. No mention of the Colonel, no mention of his promotion or the war or your wedding. It was like a report being filed. "I flew nine times since I last wrote in two different planes. The right rudder problem was present on both planes. I hope this helps you."

    There was a slow, uncertain fear in your heart now. What if Yachi planned to do the same? What if this was the war neurosis, some kind of cloud sickness poisoning his head. Maybe writing had gotten as hard for him as it had been for you, just after your injury. Maybe the scream of pistons and the clatter of bullets had forced the love out of his heart. Maybe he could not stand the war any longer, and desired to take his life?

    You wanted to put down your slide rule and charter a boat to Joseon, go and confront him and make him tell you what was happening. But you couldn't, they wouldn't let you go even if you did.

    All you could do was work, and send another letter of your own.

    Letter to Yachi
    [ ] Pry. Ask him what is happening directly. Tell him he had a duty to let you know what was happening. (Social Roll)
    [ ] Send a more reassuring letter. Respect his apparent desire for distance. (+1 Stress)
    [ ] Write In

    Preferred Engine Selection
    [ ] Hobgoblin Semi-Radial: This retooled Goblin Engine, running a 100 horsepower, is almost the same beast with some mechanical changes for more power, at the cost of reliability. 4 Mass, 4 Drag, Thrust 4, Cost 5, Reliability -4, 9 Fuel per Tank.
    [ ] H-Series: Akibara's new 6-cylinder in-line, a recreation of a Dyskelandic design. Blisteringly high RPM and 150 horsepower. 8 Mass, 1 Drag, Thrust 2, Cost 6, 7 Fuel per Tank. Requires Radiator.
    [ ] Ogre Z: A frankenstienian expansion of the original inverted Ogre V4 design that simply bolted on two more cylinders for a total horsepower of 140. 7 Mass, 2 Drag, Thrust 2, Cost 6, 7 Fuel per Tank. Requires Radiator.
    [ ] Pegasus Rotary: The brand new custom-build Kobayashi seven-cylinder rotary engine, producing 100 horsepower. 3 Mass, 11 Drag, Thrust 4, Cost 6, Reliability 0, 6 Fuel per Tank.

    Preferred Weapon Layout
    List Here
    [ ] Write In Plan

    The current lead plan is Super Death Plane Mark II, so expect 2 engines and some gun pods, basically.​
    Adhoc vote count started by open_sketch on Dec 27, 2018 at 3:46 AM, finished with 11681 posts and 21 votes.
    • 23
      [X] Send a more reassuring letter. Respect his apparent desire for distance. (+1 Stress)
      [x] Plan: Give 'Em an Inch
      -[x] Mechanical gun in a forward facing fixed nose mount
      --[x] 25mm rotary with electric motor
      -[x] MMG on turret mount for rear and side arcs
      [X] Plan Drake's Teeth
      -[X] Single 25mm mechanical gun mounted in the nose
      --[X] Driven by mechanical connection to engine if possible.
      -[X] No machine guns
      [x] Plan Sleek and Speedy
      [x] Hobgoblin Semi-Radial: This retooled Goblin Engine, running a 100 horsepower, is almost the same beast with some mechanical changes for more power, at the cost of reliability. 4 Mass, 4 Drag, Thrust 4, Cost 5, Reliability -4, 9 Fuel per Tank.
      [X] Pry. Ask him what is happening directly. Tell him he had a duty to let you know what was happening. (Social Roll)
      -[x] tell him what just happened. The train test, the cheer, the suicide. Tell him you are worried about the same thing happening to him, and that his letters are making you more worried, not less. Tell him you want him back here, and the war over, but most of all you want him to be able to be honest with you, and to feel safe expressing what he feels.
      [X] Pry. Ask him what is happening directly. Tell him he had a duty to let you know what was happening. (Social Roll)
      [X] Pry. Ask him what is happening directly. Tell him he had a duty to let you know what was happening.
      [x] Plan: Give 'Em an Inch
      -[x] Light cannon in a forward facing fixed nose mount
      --[x] 25mm rotary with electric motor
      -[x] MMG on turret mount for rear and side arcs
      [X] Plan Drake's Teeth
      -[X] Twin 25mm mechanical guns mounted in the nose
      --[X] Driven by electric motor
      -[X] No machine guns
      [X] 2x Hobgoblin Semi-Radial: This retooled Goblin Engine, running a 100 horsepower, is almost the same beast with some mechanical changes for more power, at the cost of reliability. 4 Mass, 4 Drag, Thrust 4, Cost 5, Reliability -4, 9 Fuel per Tank.
    Click to expand...
     
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