Your mind raced with the memory of what happened to Amari. You couldn't let the same thing happen to D'Amboise. You threw the stick back hard to zoom for Stripes, the effort of it causing canvas to flex and your muscles to scream in protest.
In the back of your mind, you mused that this was the problem with women at the front. You were about to do something stupid to protect her and you hadn't even thought about it.
The wings hit the air hard and sent the little plane rocketing up into the air. Stripes was already turning, and you noticed as you came close something you never had before: his plane had ailerons instead of wing warping, and it looked... well, it looked stripped down to almost nothing. You also suspected, though you weren't sure, that something was different about his propellers. The arc was thicker in your vision, which made you think more blades. In either case, it meant that when he rolled with his rudder out, he twisted in the air like a corkscrew in a maneuver like you'd never seen.
Didn't matter much though. He flew fancy, but bullets flew faster. You raked his plane from front to back and, as you leveled out at the edge of a stall, you were pleased to see a thin stream of black vapour extending behind him. That was probably one of his cylinders, which meant that engine's days were numbered, and you tore a strip out of his canvas too.
Undeterred, he rocketed up almost instantly, with far more energy than you, and you watched his arc as you leveled out, coming up, twisting into a rotating hammerhead, and starting back down. You'd heard a rumour around the base that the guy piloting that machine was some kind of circus folk, an acrobat or something, and suddenly you believed it.
You were also dead out of energy, and he was coming for you.
You rolled the plane over and into a steep dive, maybe 50 degrees. He was coming for you, and the faster you got out of his way, the better. Maybe you could draw him through the guns of your allies, or the troops on the ground. That'd be good.
Unfortunately, you were just a bit too slow to react, and Stripes was turning out to be an excellent gunner, because you weren't even all the way over when the first bullets ripped through your plane. Right next your head, the plywood hull splintered, and rounds passed through the canvas of the wings and punched through the metal planes on the wings. You wrenched the controls around and almost didn't recover properly, fighting the plane all the way down before leveling out.
The C-2s could sustain a steeper dive than you, far steeper. Even as you were just leveling out, you glanced back through the propeller arc to see him come out of his dive like giant predatory bird, trailing vapour and exhaust. He was so fast. Too fast! There was flame jumping from his exhaust pipes as he pushed towards you. Asuka had said their racer had used some kind of fuel additive which did the same thing during the race, and it was eating up the space between you. Your engine was working full speed and you weren't getting away.
You needed to escape. You needed to get out or get free or get him under somebody's guns. This was bad.
There was a lot of fancy bullshit going on in the air these days. Fighting in the vertical, reversals, stall turns and hammerheads... you'd have to learn to do one of those D'Amboise turns soon enough, probably.
But sometimes, simple is best.
You nosed down, applied rudder, and rolled into a sharp, natural turn. Took a half-second at most to start the turn, and you started cranking around. Stripes started following, that souped-up, super-fast hell machine right on your fucking tail, just a step out of reach for its guns. Pretty soon he'd cut inside your turn and shoot you to pieces. Those guns would tear your beautiful Dragonfly to pieces, riddle your body, leave you to smash against the ground. You'd never get home, never marry Asuka, never meet back up with Tanaka, never see Amari again.
You leaned your shoulders as far over as you could, shifting your weight in the cockpit, and pressed a little harder on the rudder. You'd finished a full rotation and only dropped maybe five meters of altitude total.
Stripes was still right behind you, hanging in the turn.
You let it go around again. You were right at the edge of your stall speed, your engine working overtime to keep you just above the ground. Stripes was working his rudder to sideslip while holding the turn, trying lose speed to avoid overshooting while keeping up the rotation. The flames from his engine dampened as he pulled the throttle back. He was still gaining, still getting closer. For all the Ohara artistry in the Dragonfly, that huge Dyskelandic 140hp engine in the C-2 was just too much to overcome.
You let it go around again. He was well outside his cornering speed now. So were you, but your plane was so light it didn't matter much. He was slipping out of the air, and you could tell because, in your rear-view mirror, his bootleg ailerons were jerking the wrong way against the rudder, trying to hang in the turn while leveling out to retain his lift. He was dropping, slowly retreating back and down out of the mirror.
You let it go around again. He slipped out of your mirror.
You let it go around again. The flames burst out from the engine again as he struggled to keep enough power to stay on you.
You let it go around again. You were looking directly to your left, and there he was, at the opposite of your turn. You'd fallen almost halfway to earth, so near you could see the soldiers below staring up, turning so close to each other that they were afraid to fire.
You let it go around again. You stared at him and nodded. You could see his little goatee and mustache, could see his wide eyes under his goggles. He was outmatched, and he knew it. He'd committed too long, made the same mistake that so many of his victims, almost twenty of your countrymen, had made. He'd stayed on the pursuit until it brought him into an impossible situation. If he kept turning, you'd catch him. If he stopped, he'd be vulnerable as he tried to level out. If he tried a reversal right now, he'd plow into the fucking ground.
You were prepared to let it go around again, but he leveled out and started towards your lines. His hand shot into the air, trailing a white cloth. It looked like he was descending.
War is really bad. This is a bit more graphic than usual.
You acknowledged with a wiggle of your wings, and stuck up a hand in a fist for your wingmen. You followed Stripes down for the short descent, glancing behind you. It looked like the air battle in this sector was over, though in the far distance you saw a pair of Ducks begin their dive on some distance target.
When you looked back, Stripes touched down. It was not a smooth landing, bouncing hard and then sliding against a muddy hill to a stop just behind the line of advancing soldiers, tipping hard enough onto its nose for its propeller to dash itself against the ground. You winced: you'd had a landing like that in your T1M2 and it wasn't fun.
The man in the cockpit stood up and raised a hand to wave at you with his white cloth. You saluted in return. This war in the air had grown far more deadly and hateful than when you'd first started shooting at each other from observer planes, but it was nice to have another victory like this. A conclusion where blood didn't have to be drawn.
A gaggle of Akitsukuni soldiers closed over the hill, leveled their rifles, and shot the pilot on the ground through the chest. He pitched off his seat and fell face down in the mud below. You watched him drown helplessly in six inches of dirty water while the soldiers cut his plane to pieces with their bayonets, hunting for souvenirs.
You'd seen a lot of disgusting things in this war, but...
This was just another one.
You flew for home.
---
You put down and rolled to a halt, skewing the plane around and leaping out before the propeller had stopped spinning. You strode over to the metal shelter Lt. Col. Muranaka was sheltering under, an anger rising in you.
"Taisho!" You spat. "I just watched our men in sector four near Suijin shoot a downed and surrendering airman to death and tear apart his plane." You said. "They fucking butchered him."
"You what?" He said, a look of shock on his face. There were strict orders on the treatment of prisoners: Akitsukuni had to look civilized. It was drilled into the soldier's heads at every turn.
(You'd long realized the double standard. They'd hung an infantry soldier for mishandling a Caspian woman soldier early in the war and had his entire unit punished, floggings and everything, but... nobody gave a shit about the Joseon civilians...)
"Shot him down in the seat of his downed plane. The man had a white flag and everything." You said.
"Spirits." He called an attendant over and you gave a quick statement, and the man shuffled away. "These fucking conscripts, Yachi. I..."
You nodded. Muranaka was not a friend by any means, but you respected him. He was a good career man.
At the field, Nashio's plane rolled to a halt, then D'Amboise started coming in. You realized as she approached...
"She's down a wheel. I don't think she knows..." You muttered. Her front tricycle gear, the one in her blind spot, was completely missing the wheel. Oh no, not her too. Not today...
Her back wheels touched first, then the nose came down and the framework dug into the wet grass, skewing the machine to its side. The rear gear snapped like dry twigs, and the machine went over onto its side instantly, the wings crushing to nothing as the engine snapped to a stop, propellers splintered to blunt nubs.
You were already running over when you realized there was a live rocket on the opposite wing. The thought had barely processed when it detonated with a little crump, blowing the opposite wings apart and sending the tension strut rocketing off, skimming off the grass like a stone across water.
Picking yourself up off the ground, you made your way to the cockpit. The smell of leaking fuel in your nose, you glanced inside to see D'Amboise skewed over, blood running from a dozen small cuts on her side from shrapnel. There was a ragged hole in her cheek you could see her teeth though.
You unclipped her belt and pulled her out of the seat, dragging her across the grass to a safe distance. A few seconds later, the embers from the rocket and burning canvas met the holed fuel tank, and the machine started burning like a funeral pyre.
---
Coralie was taken away by a field ambulance, her status uncertain, and you found yourself sitting against the side of the hanger, breathing hard. You hadn't had a day this bad for the pilots under your command in a while, and you were watching planes shuttle back to the field in various states of broken. An hour passed in surreal fast-forward.
A man came in on a Dragonfly that was missing all the canvas on its upper right wing: he had one leg out of the cockpit to provide enough counterbalance, and he was thrown off when he landed, breaking an arm. An observation Pit Viper was brought in and they had to pull the gunner out in two pieces. One of those two-engine radio carriers landed so hard it drove the landing gear through the wings and it flipped, crushing the operator under fifty kilograms of electronics.
A mechanic came by and told you your engine was on its last legs. There wasn't time to switch it out or do much more than pull the bad sparkplugs. Pegasus engines running full tilt would burn themselves out in minutes: you'd seen them throw cylinders out like projectiles when they got too worn.
Nashio was curled up around a cup of tea, tracks of tears through the oil and grease. He told you that D'Amboise had scored three kills in the air battle: the S-1 she shredded, the one she forced down, and a third she and he had chased down while you were escorting Stripes in.
He said he let her have the kill. He said it like he wanted you to be proud of him, for conceding, for learning.
If you had the energy, you'd break his nose again.
There were bloodstains all over your gloves and jacket, rapidly drying. You'd thrown up behind the hangers, tried to eat something, and then failed to keep that down either. Everything tasted like petrol fumes.
Muranaka walked over and sat next to you with a sigh.
"How's it going out there?" You asked.
"Sunjin is ours. The assault is going well." He said. "Uh... there's some kind of new bomber over the western sector with new escorts. They sound like... well, they sound like Gallian-style farman pusher planes. I was going to ask D'Amboise about them but... Well, nevermind. The Pit Vipers that tried to intercept them got torn to pieces, and they just blew the ever-living hell out our advance there. We're trying to get an ad-hoc squadron together to find them before they launch again. Are..." He looked the two of you over carefully.
"Major, I know a man on the end of his rope. If I send you up there right now, can you be effective? I'm not throwing away my best aces."
[ ] I'm done, boss. (Advance to war roll.)
[ ] I'm good to go. (Advance to plane selection for the final battle.)
"I'm..." You voice broke before you finished the sentence.
You had a duty to your country to go back up. You had to. You had to.
You looked around at the field, wreathed in fumes and fog, at the pile of broken planes the crews wheeled into the ditch at the side of the field, at the row of bodies stacked two deep under a tarp at the edge of the field. You thought about Amari, probably now in hospital fighting for his life, about D'Amboise lying in the back of a truck bleeding. Asuka's desperate, pleading letters. Losing your rudder, holes in your wings from darts and bullets, the crash landings, the night landings, the pounding of flak and scream of the rotary in your ears, the gunshots, the artillery, the men you'd seen thrown from their machines. Tanaka, missing a leg. Teshima, home to his wife missing an arm below the shoulder. Kinjo, tumbling to the ground locked against his foe. Okazaki, spinning helplessly to the ground. Teika, bleeding out on the field from flak wounds, Tanimoto frog-marched to an icy prison. Colonel Izuhara, dead by his own hand. All the evenings you'd stared at your service revolver, turning it over in your hand, looking at the bullet in the chamber and trying to judge if you were worthy of it.
You held a hand in front of you. You were trembling like a leaf in a gust.
Whatever it is that was carrying you forward these past months was just gone. You weren't Major Arita right now. You felt like a scared little boy.
"I c-can't." You said. "I... fuck. I can't go on. I'm d-done, b-boss."
Nashio looked at you with wide eyes. Taisho nodded.
"Are you sure, man?"
"P-please don't make me do it again." The weakness and defeat in your voice was absolute.
"Yachi, come on old sport. Just one more go. For the boys on the ground." Nashio said, pleading. "They need you."
They did. You were letting them down.
You decided that you'd try to stand up. If you could, you'd go. If you could stand, you had to fight.
Your legs wouldn't go.
Your commander stood up, helped Nashio to his feet, and sighed. "Nashio, are you still good to go?"
"Yessir." He said.
"Okay, Special Squadron 1 is yours. If you head up now, you should..."
They walked away, talking, and you stared at the dirt between your feet and did your best not to cry. It was the hardest thing you'd ever done in your life.
---
After a few minutes, a nurse arrived with a nearby ambulance and took you to the back. Muranaka's orders: you were a psychological casualty.
You rode with a man who'd been shot by a machine-gun. The bullet had passed through his arm longways and lodged in his shoulder. He asked, as he drifted out from the morphine drip, where you were hit, and you hadn't been able to formulate an answer.
There was a field hospital here built out of what you think was some sort of manor at one time. They shuffled you to a room for causalities like yourself. The sign on the door marked the ward as for "War Neurosis".
"I thought that word was banned?" You asked a nurse.
"Only to prevent it spreading further, Major." The nurse explained. "Come now."
The men in this room were sitting or lying on the matted floor in various states. There were maybe thirty of them here, but this was apparently just a collection and initial recovery area in this hospital. There were special camps closer to the line. They had initially sent men with war neurosis home, but they'd killed themselves in such alarming numbers from the guilt...
"I can't be here. I've made a mistake. I need to be flying." You said. You tried to say. Your voice broke so comprehensively that maybe one in three words escaped.
"It's alright, Major. You've been relieved of duty. You've done your part." The nurse said, in such comforting tones. She lead you to a corner and sat you down. "We'll have you talk to a doctor, assess your condition, and you'll be moved. We've gotten very good at this over the last few months, don't you worry. We'll have you back to the front in two weeks, if you want. Two weeks doesn't sound too bad, does it?"
Two weeks seemed very reasonable. You could take two weeks to recover. Hell, you were still wounded. There was something wet in your sock and you realized it wasn't oil, because you hadn't been flying your Desk, it was blood from the cut at the back of your leg. It must have been reopened.
"I can. Two weeks sounds good. I'll be back in two weeks." You said. Somebody handed you a cup of tea, and it tasted so sweet.
"Do you need anything else?" The nurse asked.
"I want to send a letter." You said.
"To your mother? We get that a lot." The nurse said with a soft smile.
"No, she's... she's dead too. To my, um, fiancé." You said.
"Oh. Well, in that case, you'll want to wait until after you see the doctor. We have had some men write things to their husbands and wives they've regretted in the moment. You need to get some perspective first."
You nodded, finished your tea, and finally, finally, pulled off your goggles. The were worn, scratched, covered in soot and oil, sweat baked into the leather.
You stared at the reflection of the broken man in the lenses.
---
We're going to start by resolving causalities. Roll 6d20.
November 29th, 1910 (2536) - November 5th, 1911 (2537)
Final Warscore 120 - 97
Akitsukuni Victory -
Akisukuni
Casualties: 98,558 killed in action, 33,414 dead of disease. 171,224 wounded, 6,183 taken prisoner.
Grand Caspia
Casualties: 57,249 killed in action, 39,220 dead of disease. 130,584 wounded, over 40,000 taken prisoner.
---
In the end, the Akitsukuni gambit won out, due to several strokes of good fortune. Chief among them was the presence of the freshly laid service roads in the north of the Caspian lines running to and alongside the newly laid railways. This quirk of logistical engineering allowed the rapid advance of Akitsukuni armoured cars and trucks from the breakout zone to the supply lines. Over six miles of railway were torn up and two bridges demolished within the first six days of the landing, leaving the Caspian front lines were no means of resupply. Though the Akitsukuni navy was eventually driven off, their landed forces were able to appropriate several Caspian supply depots and use their momentum to achieve a link-up, despite attacks by Caspian heavy bombers attempting to blunt their advance. The result was the largest pocket of forces in history up until that point. Surrounded, and with her troops on the edge of mutiny, Field Marshal Pozdnyakova Irena Vladislavovna was forced to announce her surrender.
Akitsukuni forces continued to push north unopposed, bypassing the desperate and cut-off remnants of Caspian forces, until a ceasefire was called. There is some debate among historians about the causes of the delay, with different sources blaming the Tsar's refusal to accept defeat, communication difficulties due to rebellious elements, and even subversive leftist forces attempting to sabotage these efforts in the legislature and through direct action, with the hope of hastening a complete collapse of government.
Air elements played a vital role in Akitsukuni's victory. Naval scouts and fighters screened the landing zone, and the first airborne radios were used to coordinate the attack to mixed results. Air fighting over the front line was the most intense of the war, with hundreds of aircraft engaging over the course of several days. On the Akitsukuni side, Ace of Aces Major Arita Yachi lead Akitsukuni Special Squadron 1 through its first deployments on the first day, claiming four kills, two of them aces, before being removed from service due to psychological breakdown. He was succeeded by Captain Nashio Izumo, who attempted to lead a rag-tag task force over the next few days to stop Caspian bombers, to little effect. Of special note is Gallian test pilot Coralie D'Amboise, who flew with Special Squadron 1 as part of special arrangements, and was the world's first ace in a day, achieved in only two missions before she was wounded and removed from the front due to a piece of faulty ordinance detonating on landing.
Caspian air defenses suffered quick attrition under the full on attack, in large part due to increases in the sophistication of Akitsukuni air doctrine. Podpolkovnik Surkov Gleb Tikhonovich, at the time the highest-ranking officer still flying missions, was killed in a duel with Major Arita Yachi after downing Arita's wingman and ace Captain Amari Shiro. Poruchik Likhachyov Zigfrids Tikhonovich took three kills in the morning flight, but was killed by Akitsukuni troops on the ground after being forced down, again by Major Arita. Ilyukhina Valeria Yermolayevna, flying in a recently-purchased Loinhomme III pusher plane in escort of Caspian heavy bombers, would claim eleven more victories over the course of the remaining week of the war, making her the leading ace of the conflict. The superiority of these planes in the turn, even against the Dragonfly, was a major factor in these last days, as their 110 horsepower engines and large control surfaces gave them a considerable advantage, despite their comparatively weak firepower and marginally lower top speed.
---
Peace Deal Results
Akitsukuni gains national spirit Victorious!
- Victorious!: Right-wing elements gain +3 forward to the next Election roll. This spirit is then cleared.
Both Nations gain Post-War Crash, giving the following.
- Post-War Crash: Budgets for all projects reduced by 1d10, rolled when assigned.
Choose Three
[ ] Secure iron mines: Removes Steel from the Poor Resources national spirit.
[ ] Extensive Reparations: Akitsukuni does not suffer Post-War Crash
- [ ] Crippling Reparations: Akitsukuni gains the spirit Post-War Boom, giving +1d5 to project budgets. Caspia almost certainly collapses.
[ ] International Recognition: Excellent international press means booming trade. Foreign engines will be available for civilian designs until the spirit is removed.
[ ] International Investment: Removes Damn Akitsukuni Engines! modifiers for two years of engine designs.
[ ] Moment of Reckoning: Removes Victorious! national spirit.
- [ ] Peace Movements: Gives +2 to left-wing parties going forward to the next Election roll. This spirit is then cleared.
[ ] Veteran's Benefits: Characters who fought in the war are given extensive treatment by the government, which will aid their physical and psychological recovery.
[ ] Job Program: Programs are employed to prevent the complete exodus of women from the workforce in face of the returning soldiers.
[ ] Education Program: Steps are taken to ensure female enrollment in higher education does not completely dry up postwar.
[ ] Write In: Subject to GM Approval
Good War. Everyone shake hands and go get an orange slice.
The doctors had managed to convince you of that. You'd been up an average of three times a day for eleven straight months, with a mere 19 days away from the front. You were the longest-serving combat air pilot by 4 months. Nobody could do that and be a coward.
They'd pointed to your record, the way you refused any leave that kept you in the country, the way you lead the squadron on and on. Muranaka and Nashio both fought for you hard: you hadn't refused to fly, you'd been given the option and you made a choice.
That was the problem. They'd given you a choice. If Taisho had said "go up again, we still need you" then you know you would have done it. You know.
When he came to visit you, the day before the war ended, you'd been so angry at him. This was his fault. Why didn't he send up you? Why didn't he order you? Why did he let you become this?
The day itself, you felt nothing. Numb. You held the newspaper in shaking hands and felt the bottom drop out of the world. The only thing that had been keeping you together was the promise you'd be back fighting again in just a few short days. You'd been recovering. You know you had been. You could have done it.
You spent the rest of the day basically catatonic. The next as well.
General Horikoshi had come to your hospital room two days later. He was an old man. An honest to god samurai, he'd directed the cannons and gatling guns that ended his era, put away his banner, and dedicated himself to technology. He'd turned himself from a warrior to a soldier and then to a bureaucrat, and he was more dangerous now than he had been in his entire life, even behind his thick spectacles.
You'd worked at his office before the war, back when it was called the Air Artillery and he was the mad old man trying to drag the army into the modern age. Izuhara, Okazak, Teshima, Teika, Mitsu, Ueda, and you, under the command of the General, sidelined to the ridiculous task of trying to eek some use out of motorized kites. It seemed so long ago. Comrades in an absurd war of technical specifications and procurement bureaucracy, samurai swinging pens and spilling ink. The best friends you'd ever had.
You reviewed that list in your head. Dead, dead, invalid, dead, dead, dead, and... you. Whatever you were now.
He sat in the chair beside your bed, the one the doctors used, and looked at you sadly. You thought he might be thinking the same thing.
"Colonel Muranaka and I have done everything we can for you." He said. He handed you a small stack of papers, and you did your best to read them, but your hands were shaking too badly.
"The top pages are the legal stuff. You've been cleared of any responsibility for this. I understand the Army Surgeons Board want to make it the model case for handling war neurosis, actually. Training COs to find it and order their men to get treatment." The General summarized. "Then there's some stuff for the medal they're going to give you: it's not as flashy as the stuff you already have, it was touch and go there, but you don't shoot down two of the enemy's best pilots in a day without somebody noticing. The page under that... Well, those are from me. Resignation papers, if you want them."
You swallowed, your mouth dry. "Right."
"This is a strange thing to hear from a General, I know, but by the Spirits, I hope this is my last war." He said. "Used to be, you lined up, shot at each other, made an afternoon out of it, then it was done." He'd said that a thousand times about basically every aspect of modern war for as long as you'd known him. For a man at the cutting edge, he complained about it a lot. "This... I don't know if man was made for this kind of war. Look, if you don't sign it, they'll have you flying a desk until you can convince them otherwise, so it'll be an uphill battle for any kind of responsibility or command. Maybe that works for you, I don't know. Offer's good until the end of the day, cuz that's when the papers are dated. If you throw 'em in the trash, nobody will say a word."
He left you with a pen. It took a few tries to pick it up.
[ ] Sign the papers, and try your luck as a civilian.
[ ] Stay in the army.
---
You are Coralie D'Amboise, and you have a particular distaste for your current situation.
Currently, you are in a private ward in a special field hospital behind the lines in Joseon. There are six patients there: four Akitsukuni nurses, a Caspian prisoner, and you. All women. The only men in the entire place are the two doctors and a trio of orderlies who sweep by every other day.
For the first two weeks, your face was wrapped in bandages and you ate only liquids. There was pain down the left side of your body at basically all times, and you were in and out of surgery over and over. The nurses said they were pulling shrapnel out of you. They kept finding more.
You told them you wanted to keep every piece. They had them in a bowl beside your bed.
Today they were checking the stitches that were holding your face together. They'd been coy about the nature of the wound and it was infuriating. It wasn't like you didn't know it would be bad. They wouldn't have you wrapped like a Khemet mummy if it weren't bad! But you were not a little girl, and neither were you one of their soft flowers of femininity that would wilt at the slightest hint of violence. You've killed eight men!
You'd asked for a mirror. In writing, of course. You couldn't move your mouth, with the bandages keeping it closed. They'd been reluctant, but finally a nurse had provided you with a hand mirror, and you were looking at it as the bandages were swept away.
The resulting mass of scab and thread in your now-sunken cheek was reflected back.
"I'm so sorry." The doctor said, his eyes cast down. "There will be a considerable scar."
Fine by you! You thought it looked rather impressive, really, and you're sure Satomi would agree. Only five more days and they'd move you back to Tokei.
Now, if only they could get your arm moving again. You weren't one to worry, but it was starting to get concerning... ah well, no matter. There were other things to worry about!
[ ] Wear a white dress to your wedding, like you always wanted.
[ ] Wear your WAA uniform to your wedding, and embrace your new home.
---
You are Amari Shiro, and you are a lucky son of a bitch. The doctors said that gut wounds basically always got infected. When you woke up from your first surgery, they told you that bluntly before moving on to the next patient. Start writing letters and brush up on your poetry, cuz your last few weeks are going to suck.
But then... it didn't happen. You lucked out, beat the odds. Then they had to go back in and fix something they found in an x-ray, and they repeated the warning, and... well, here you are. Still alive.
The Spirits were fickle, but somebody was looking out for you. Buying all those prayer tags was paying off.
They sent you home so some docs at Tokei General could look you over, then they wheeled you out for the victory parade, which was pretty great. They flew Dragonflies right over the streets, down real low. Nashio was up there, and they had somebody flying Yachi's plane too. The Super Dragonflies were being retired now, both of them, so they were heading straight down to be displayed at the Imperial Museum. Shame yours didn't make it.
You wrote to the Major, and he said he was dealing with some stuff, but he wanted to meet up after he was back from Joseon and he'd sorted things out with his partner. Good luck to him.
You finally made it back to your apartment. Still in a wheelchair, of course, you wouldn't be walking for a while. Your sister wheeled you in. You'd been keeping up payments while at the front, which had gotten a lot easier when they jumped you up to the officer ranks to fly, and then...
And then a lot harder when Satoshi died. Not much harder, infantry soldiers didn't make that much, but...
They slid open the door, and but for the layer of dust on everything, it was like walking back to your old life. Walking back into his old life.
[ ] Get out and about. You can't dwell.
[ ] Focus on your art.
---
You are Torio Saya, and this was not the life you'd imagined.
Tanaka was trying. He really was. He got up early every day, pulled himself into his chair, and hit the streets, but there wasn't a lot of work for a man who couldn't stand on his own two feet. The officer's pension was helping, but it wasn't enough to live on. You were working full time at the only job you could get, and that was drying up soon. The man whose job you took was coming back from the war, and you'd have to find something else.
Neither of you had touched your paintbrushes in months. There was no time or energy left.
You were at the market picking up food for the next day when you spotted the poster lining the walls at the end of the street. You didn't recognize all the characters, and you were embaressed to have to ask the shopkeeper you were talking to what it meant.
"Oh, it's that work program thing. They're trying to keep employment up or whatever." The shopkeeper said. "You go down to one of their offices and they'll get you a job, more or less. Hours are long, but a lot of young men need money these days. Especially the ones crippled by the war, poor bastards."
"Wait, even... like, if a man has no leg, say..." You asked clumsily.
"Far as I've heard, they'll find a place for him. A lot of factory jobs don't involve moving around much, do they? Women too, it's a big thing. They're gonna build railways and stuff, it's mad. Waste of tax money, you ask me..."
You weren't listening anymore. You were on the move back home. It might be long and hard work, but maybe one of you would have a chance while the other goes about it.
[ ] You head to the office and get a job, then you tell your husband.
[ ] You tell Tanaka you're going to sign up, and he beats you there the next morning.
---
Your name is Ohara Satomi, and you're holding your fiancee's hand.
Her right hand. The one that still works.
You're driving right now, keeping the speed low so you don't have to let go of it to shift. You're driving her home from the train station, to your little place in the city. She's got a big square bandage taped over the side of her face, but despite that she was smiling too.
"I'm just saying, money might be a little tight. They're cutting back hard at Ohara, and everywhere else, and it has my parents scared for their investments. That tends to make them a little less liberal with the pursestrings." You were explaining. You took a pretty paltry salary from Ohara, and the Army had paid you like the penny-pinchers they were, so you were settling in for something of a contraction of lifestyle for a little while. Less joyrides and top-shelf booze, more joywalks and lower-shelf booze, basically.
"Post-war crash. After the Teutonic League stole their victory from us in our war, they looted the country dry because suddenly, everyone was out of work and nothing was being made. I do not understand why we are not doing the same to the Caspians?"
"I guess the government wanted land more." You said, trying your best to sound like you hadn't followed the issues in the papers and could quote every reason there was. "Something about economic independence or some shit."
What it came down to was that the Navy was adamant that Akitsukuni increase steel production, which would rely on having iron deposits that were better than the local stuff. So instead of hunting for the money to cushion the blow, they went for land, and took as much as they could as greedily as they could without risking a re-ignition of the conflict or angering international observers. From what it sounded like, the Akitsukuni negotiators had put a pencil down on a map and moved it north until the Gallian mediators had told them to stop. Furthermore, it turned out that Grand Caspia was far more willing to part with land too far away for them to work than they were crashing their economy with crippling debt. The result was probably going to be better for the country in the long term, but the minority government had had to form a coalition with the New Independents to do it, and there had been some pretty substantial concessions in the form of rolling back pay reform, the jobs program, and a veteran's initiative.
They'd needed to make this deal with the center because the Purity Club were currently completing their shameful trajectory of disintegration that had started when they'd caught that prince planning a coup or whatever. The war had gutted the middle officers of the Navy that made up a lot of their core support, so the rats had been abandoning the sinking ship and only the most hardcore supporters remained behind their legislators. Those idiots were of the opinion that round two with a fresh Caspian army didn't sound so bad if it got them reparations and a sizable chunk of land, and they'd actually opposed the ceasefire!
Worst part was, in the aftermath, that had turned out to be a somewhat popular opinion. There were a lot of uneducated middle-aged idiots across the country convinced that the Imperial Army ought to be marching unopposed across the country to put the Tsar in irons right now. If the Constitutional Nationalists had realized that, things might have been a lot different.
"Coralie, I know we've talked about this already..." In letters, of course, "But... I'm sorry I didn't go with you. I should have been there for you."
She started to laugh, though it was quickly cut off by pain, and she swore instead. "Nonsense! There was nothing you could have done about this particular incident, and furthermore, you are not a soldier of any type. I would have been alone at the front for weeks while they trained you in the finer points of polishing your boots, and it would have been the same thing."
"I suppose." You said.
"I'll tell you what. Next time, should I be healed, and should you still feel that way, we'll go together, or we'll stay together. Your choice." Cora said.
Oh spirits, next time. You hoped there wouldn't be a next time. You'd heard Matsura muttering about how many machines had been lost and how many pilots had died every time they fixed up some part of their drafts. Your brother had come back from the war and told you, in his blunt way, that it was mostly freezing in a hole and waiting to learn which of your friends had died. No thanks.
You drove on a while, weaving through the rain-slick streets. This was a more typical December for Tokei, not the bitter, biting winter from last year. Mostly just wet and miserable, with the occasional dip into ice and snow.
"Hey, don't you have that holiday coming up? You asked, changing the subject to happier things. "The... the one with the tree!"
"Oh, yes! Christmas! It's in four days, I think?" Coralie said.
"So, what do you do for Christmas?" You asked.
"You get drunk and give each other presents." Coralie explained.
"My kind of holiday. After that we have New Years... I think you guys do New Years as well?"
"Yes, though it is typically a rather sedate affair, not really a holiday." Coralie said.
"Oh, well, just you wait."
[ ] Write In a gift for Coralie
---
You are Matsura Asuka.
You are standing on a train platform, and you're waiting.
He'd sent you letters telling you about what happened. About his condition. He wrote pages and pages, everything he'd seen and heard and felt, and you read it all. There hadn't been much else to do, with the Ohara plant working at half-capacity and no new orders coming down. You'd scribbled at some improvements for the government but, for the most part, everyone was waiting for the big post-war report that was supposed to shape the future of air warfare, and for the economy to shake out enough to know what needed producing next.
You'd played a few games of football in one of the empty hangers. It was surprisingly fun.
You were waiting with Minami, whose boyfriend was coming on the same train. You... you weren't sure what the two of you were. Friends with a sort of mutual attraction, maybe. You'd picked her up from her last shift ever at the dockyards and drove her here in silence, and you were sitting now, hands close to each other, trying to keep each other's nerves steady. Three days ago, you'd finally broken down and kissed her at the New Years party you probably shouldn't have invited her too. Whatever, that was New Years Eve. It happened a year ago, it didn't count.
Finally, the train pulled up and men started getting off. You felt a strange sort of deja vu. You hoped this would be the last time.
Minami ran to meet her boyfriend, a tall, thin man who dipped her into a kiss, and you smiled. They were a lovely couple.
Huh, he had spectacles too. You wondered if maybe she had a type.
Finally, you saw him emerge from the doors, carrying all his belongings on his back. He looked worn, pale, his eyes darting, his head moving to scan around him. His hair had grown a little too long, and you noticed the little cuts on his face and uneven stubble from a razor in shaky hands. He'd lost weight, lost a bit of that muscle, and he looked dead tired.
But when he saw you, he smiled. You took his hands, you kissed him, you took him to your car, and you drove home.
Adhoc vote count started by open_sketch on Mar 14, 2019 at 3:09 AM, finished with 13764 posts and 28 votes.
[X] Write In a gift for Coralie: A comfortable kimono just on the fancier side of every-day wear. It's in a sky blue and white patterned silk that puts you in mind of a clear summer sky and all the endless possibilities that are in front of you both.
[X] Write In a gift for Coralie: A comfortable kimono just on the fancier side of every-day wear. It's in a sky blue and white patterned silk that puts you in mind of a clear summer sky and all the endless possibilities that are in front of you both.
-[X] Veteran's Benefits: Characters who fought in the war are given extensive treatment by the government, which will aid their physical and psychological recover.
Adhoc vote count started by open_sketch on Mar 14, 2019 at 3:09 AM, finished with 13764 posts and 28 votes.
[X] Sign the papers, and try your luck as a civilian.
[X] Wear a white dress to your wedding, like you always wanted.
[X] Focus on your art.
[X] You tell Tanaka you're going to sign up, and he beats you there the next morning.
[X] Write In a gift for Coralie: A comfortable kimono just on the fancier side of every-day wear. It's in a sky blue and white patterned silk that puts you in mind of a clear summer sky and all the endless possibilities that are in front of you both.
[X] Stay in the army.
[X] Wear a white dress to your wedding, like you always wanted.
[X] Focus on your art.
[X] You tell Tanaka you're going to sign up, and he beats you there the next morning.
[X] A sword to complement her aerial (and hopefully final) dueling scar.
[X] Stay in the army.
[X] Wear a white dress to your wedding, like you always wanted.
[X] Focus on your art.
[X] You tell Tanaka you're going to sign up, and he beats you there the next morning.
[X] Write In a gift for Coralie: A comfortable kimono just on the fancier side of every-day wear. It's in a sky blue and white patterned silk that puts you in mind of a clear summer sky and all the endless possibilities that are in front of you both.
[X] Sign the papers, and try your luck as a civilian.
[X] Wear your WAA uniform to your wedding, and embrace your new home.
[X] Focus on your art.
[X] You head to the office and get a job, then you tell your husband.
[X] A sword to complement her aerial (and hopefully final) dueling scar.
[X] I Will Fight No More Forever
-[X] Secure iron mines: Removes Steel from the Poor Resources national spirit.
-[X] Extensive Reparations: Akitsukuni does not suffer Post-War Crash
-[X] Veteran's Benefits: Characters who fought in the war are given extensive treatment by the government, which will aid their physical and psychological recover.
[X] Sign the papers, and try your luck as a civilian.
[X] Wear a white dress to your wedding, like you always wanted.
[X] Focus on your art.
[X] You tell Tanaka you're going to sign up, and he beats you there the next morning.
[X] Write In a gift for Coralie: A comfortable kimono just on the fancier side of every-day wear. It's in a sky blue and white patterned silk that puts you in mind of a clear summer sky and all the endless possibilities that are in front of you both.
[X] Stay in the army.
[X] Wear your WAA uniform to your wedding, and embrace your new home.
[X] Focus on your art.
[X] You tell Tanaka you're going to sign up, and he beats you there the next morning.
[X] Write In a gift for Coralie: A comfortable kimono just on the fancier side of every-day wear. It's in a sky blue and white patterned silk that puts you in mind of a clear summer sky and all the endless possibilities that are in front of you both.
[X] Sign the papers, and try your luck as a civilian.
[X] Wear a white dress to your wedding, like you always wanted.
[X] Focus on your art.
[X] You tell Tanaka you're going to sign up, and he beats you there the next morning.
[X] A sword to complement her aerial (and hopefully final) dueling scar.
[X] Wear a white dress to your wedding, like you always wanted.
[X] Write In a gift for Coralie: A comfortable kimono just on the fancier side of every-day wear. It's in a sky blue and white patterned silk that puts you in mind of a clear summer sky and all the endless possibilities that are in front of you both.
[X]Plan Get back on that Horse
-[X] Stay in the army.
-[X] Wear a white dress to your wedding, like you always wanted.
-[X] Get out and about. You can't dwell.
-[X] You tell Tanaka you're going to sign up, and he beats you there the next morning.
-[X] A globe of the world
[X] Stay in the army.
[X] Wear a white dress to your wedding, like you always wanted.
[X] Focus on your art.
[X] You tell Tanaka you're going to sign up, and he beats you there the next morning.
[X] The comfy kimono
[X] Service to your country
-[X] Stay in the army.
-[X] Wear a white dress to your wedding, like you always wanted.
-[X] Get out and about. You can't dwell.
-[X] You tell Tanaka you're going to sign up, and he beats you there the next morning.
-[X] A scarf with Kanji on it that read "I went to war and all I got was this lousy scarf".
[X] Sign the papers, and try your luck as a civilian.
[X] Wear a white dress to your wedding, like you always wanted.
[X] Get out and about. You can't dwell.
[X] You tell Tanaka you're going to sign up, and he beats you there the next morning.
[X] Write In a gift for Coralie: A comfortable kimono just on the fancier side of every-day wear. It's in a sky blue and white patterned silk that puts you in mind of a clear summer sky and all the endless possibilities that are in front of you both.
[X] Stay in the army.
[X] Wear your WAA uniform to your wedding, and embrace your new home.
[X] Get out and about. You can't dwell.
[X] You tell Tanaka you're going to sign up, and he beats you there the next morning.
Adhoc vote count started by open_sketch on Mar 14, 2019 at 3:10 AM, finished with 13764 posts and 28 votes.
[X] Sign the papers, and try your luck as a civilian.
[X] Wear a white dress to your wedding, like you always wanted.
[X] Focus on your art.
[X] You tell Tanaka you're going to sign up, and he beats you there the next morning.
[X] Write In a gift for Coralie: A comfortable kimono just on the fancier side of every-day wear. It's in a sky blue and white patterned silk that puts you in mind of a clear summer sky and all the endless possibilities that are in front of you both.
[X]Plan Get back on that Horse
-[X] Stay in the army.
-[X] Wear a white dress to your wedding, like you always wanted.
-[X] Get out and about. You can't dwell.
-[X] You tell Tanaka you're going to sign up, and he beats you there the next morning.
-[X] A globe of the world
[X] Stay in the army.
[X] Wear a white dress to your wedding, like you always wanted.
[X] Focus on your art.
[X] You tell Tanaka you're going to sign up, and he beats you there the next morning.
[X] A sword to complement her aerial (and hopefully final) dueling scar.
[X] Stay in the army.
[X] Wear a white dress to your wedding, like you always wanted.
[X] Focus on your art.
[X] You tell Tanaka you're going to sign up, and he beats you there the next morning.
[X] Write In a gift for Coralie: A comfortable kimono just on the fancier side of every-day wear. It's in a sky blue and white patterned silk that puts you in mind of a clear summer sky and all the endless possibilities that are in front of you both.
[X] Sign the papers, and try your luck as a civilian.
[X] Wear your WAA uniform to your wedding, and embrace your new home.
[X] Focus on your art.
[X] You head to the office and get a job, then you tell your husband.
[X] A sword to complement her aerial (and hopefully final) dueling scar.
[X] I Will Fight No More Forever
-[X] Secure iron mines: Removes Steel from the Poor Resources national spirit.
-[X] Extensive Reparations: Akitsukuni does not suffer Post-War Crash
-[X] Veteran's Benefits: Characters who fought in the war are given extensive treatment by the government, which will aid their physical and psychological recover.
[X] Sign the papers, and try your luck as a civilian.
[X] Wear a white dress to your wedding, like you always wanted.
[X] Focus on your art.
[X] You tell Tanaka you're going to sign up, and he beats you there the next morning.
[X] Write In a gift for Coralie: A comfortable kimono just on the fancier side of every-day wear. It's in a sky blue and white patterned silk that puts you in mind of a clear summer sky and all the endless possibilities that are in front of you both.
[X] Stay in the army.
[X] Wear your WAA uniform to your wedding, and embrace your new home.
[X] Focus on your art.
[X] You tell Tanaka you're going to sign up, and he beats you there the next morning.
[X] Write In a gift for Coralie: A comfortable kimono just on the fancier side of every-day wear. It's in a sky blue and white patterned silk that puts you in mind of a clear summer sky and all the endless possibilities that are in front of you both.
[X] Sign the papers, and try your luck as a civilian.
[X] Wear a white dress to your wedding, like you always wanted.
[X] Focus on your art.
[X] You tell Tanaka you're going to sign up, and he beats you there the next morning.
[X] A sword to complement her aerial (and hopefully final) dueling scar.
[X] Wear a white dress to your wedding, like you always wanted.
[X] Write In a gift for Coralie: A comfortable kimono just on the fancier side of every-day wear. It's in a sky blue and white patterned silk that puts you in mind of a clear summer sky and all the endless possibilities that are in front of you both.
[X] Stay in the army.
[X] Wear a white dress to your wedding, like you always wanted.
[X] Focus on your art.
[X] You tell Tanaka you're going to sign up, and he beats you there the next morning.
[X] The comfy kimono
[X] Service to your country
-[X] Stay in the army.
-[X] Wear a white dress to your wedding, like you always wanted.
-[X] Get out and about. You can't dwell.
-[X] You tell Tanaka you're going to sign up, and he beats you there the next morning.
-[X] A scarf with Kanji on it that read "I went to war and all I got was this lousy scarf".
[X] Sign the papers, and try your luck as a civilian.
[X] Wear a white dress to your wedding, like you always wanted.
[X] Get out and about. You can't dwell.
[X] You tell Tanaka you're going to sign up, and he beats you there the next morning.
[X] Write In a gift for Coralie: A comfortable kimono just on the fancier side of every-day wear. It's in a sky blue and white patterned silk that puts you in mind of a clear summer sky and all the endless possibilities that are in front of you both.
[X] Stay in the army.
[X] Wear your WAA uniform to your wedding, and embrace your new home.
[X] Get out and about. You can't dwell.
[X] You tell Tanaka you're going to sign up, and he beats you there the next morning.
Adhoc vote count started by open_sketch on Jun 9, 2019 at 11:31 AM, finished with 76 posts and 29 votes.
[X] Sign the papers, and try your luck as a civilian.
[X] Wear a white dress to your wedding, like you always wanted.
[X] Focus on your art.
[X] You tell Tanaka you're going to sign up, and he beats you there the next morning.
[X] Write In a gift for Coralie: A comfortable kimono just on the fancier side of every-day wear. It's in a sky blue and white patterned silk that puts you in mind of a clear summer sky and all the endless possibilities that are in front of you both.
[X] Stay in the army.
[X] Wear a white dress to your wedding, like you always wanted.
[X] Focus on your art.
[X] You tell Tanaka you're going to sign up, and he beats you there the next morning.
[X] A sword to complement her aerial (and hopefully final) dueling scar.
[X] Stay in the army.
[X] Wear a white dress to your wedding, like you always wanted.
[X] Focus on your art.
[X] You tell Tanaka you're going to sign up, and he beats you there the next morning.
[X] Write In a gift for Coralie: A comfortable kimono just on the fancier side of every-day wear. It's in a sky blue and white patterned silk that puts you in mind of a clear summer sky and all the endless possibilities that are in front of you both.
[X] Sign the papers, and try your luck as a civilian.
[X] Wear your WAA uniform to your wedding, and embrace your new home.
[X] Focus on your art.
[X] You head to the office and get a job, then you tell your husband.
[X] A sword to complement her aerial (and hopefully final) dueling scar.
[X] I Will Fight No More Forever
-[X] Secure iron mines: Removes Steel from the Poor Resources national spirit.
-[X] Extensive Reparations: Akitsukuni does not suffer Post-War Crash
-[X] Veteran's Benefits: Characters who fought in the war are given extensive treatment by the government, which will aid their physical and psychological recover.
[X] Sign the papers, and try your luck as a civilian.
[X] Wear a white dress to your wedding, like you always wanted.
[X] Focus on your art.
[X] You tell Tanaka you're going to sign up, and he beats you there the next morning.
[X] Write In a gift for Coralie: A comfortable kimono just on the fancier side of every-day wear. It's in a sky blue and white patterned silk that puts you in mind of a clear summer sky and all the endless possibilities that are in front of you both.
[X] Stay in the army.
[X] Wear your WAA uniform to your wedding, and embrace your new home.
[X] Focus on your art.
[X] You tell Tanaka you're going to sign up, and he beats you there the next morning.
[X] Write In a gift for Coralie: A comfortable kimono just on the fancier side of every-day wear. It's in a sky blue and white patterned silk that puts you in mind of a clear summer sky and all the endless possibilities that are in front of you both.
[X] Sign the papers, and try your luck as a civilian.
[X] Wear a white dress to your wedding, like you always wanted.
[X] Focus on your art.
[X] You tell Tanaka you're going to sign up, and he beats you there the next morning.
[X] A sword to complement her aerial (and hopefully final) dueling scar.
[X] Wear a white dress to your wedding, like you always wanted.
[X] Write In a gift for Coralie: A comfortable kimono just on the fancier side of every-day wear. It's in a sky blue and white patterned silk that puts you in mind of a clear summer sky and all the endless possibilities that are in front of you both.
[X]Plan Get back on that Horse
-[X] Stay in the army.
-[X] Wear a white dress to your wedding, like you always wanted.
-[X] Get out and about. You can't dwell.
-[X] You tell Tanaka you're going to sign up, and he beats you there the next morning.
-[X] A globe of the world
[X] Stay in the army.
[X] Wear a white dress to your wedding, like you always wanted.
[X] Focus on your art.
[X] You tell Tanaka you're going to sign up, and he beats you there the next morning.
[X] The comfy kimono
[X] Service to your country
-[X] Stay in the army.
-[X] Wear a white dress to your wedding, like you always wanted.
-[X] Get out and about. You can't dwell.
-[X] You tell Tanaka you're going to sign up, and he beats you there the next morning.
-[X] A scarf with Kanji on it that read "I went to war and all I got was this lousy scarf".
[X] Sign the papers, and try your luck as a civilian.
[X] Wear a white dress to your wedding, like you always wanted.
[X] Get out and about. You can't dwell.
[X] You tell Tanaka you're going to sign up, and he beats you there the next morning.
[X] Write In a gift for Coralie: A comfortable kimono just on the fancier side of every-day wear. It's in a sky blue and white patterned silk that puts you in mind of a clear summer sky and all the endless possibilities that are in front of you both.
[X] Stay in the army.
[X] Wear your WAA uniform to your wedding, and embrace your new home.
[X] Get out and about. You can't dwell.
[X] You tell Tanaka you're going to sign up, and he beats you there the next morning.
[X] Write In a gift for Coralie: A comfortable kimono just on the fancier side of every-day wear. It's in a sky blue and white patterned silk that puts you in mind of a clear summer sky and all the endless possibilities that are in front of you both.
[X] Write In a gift for Coralie: A comfortable kimono just on the fancier side of every-day wear. It's in a sky blue and white patterned silk that puts you in mind of a clear summer sky and all the endless possibilities that are in front of you both.
-[X] Veteran's Benefits: Characters who fought in the war are given extensive treatment by the government, which will aid their physical and psychological recover.
You woke up resting against your boyfriend. You'd done so for the past four mornings.
There were no orders that were going to pull him away from you again. His uniform was hung up in the big closet at the back of the apartment, tucked away for good. He was yours to keep now.
There hadn't really been any sort of plan. Yachi had come back with you and you'd just talked, for hours and hours, long into the night, until you were too exhausted to keep your eyes open. The next day, Saturday, you'd originally planned to help him settle back in at his place, but you'd made him breakfast and played shogi and read the newspapers together and you got him to smile and keep smiling, so you hadn't stopped. When he was smiling, he wasn't shaking as hard.
Then the next day, he'd pointed out he had no clean clothes as an excuse for not going out and you'd happily taken it to spend more time with him. And then the next day, and the next...
Well, last night you told him you'd decided he wasn't allowed to leave anymore, even if it was just across the city, and he accepted readily. Your place was much nicer than his, even if he did have an electric ceiling fan (so fancy!). So today you'd be heading over to get his stuff and move him in. You'd phoned Mr. Ohara you were taking a few days off work to get Yachi settled in, and he'd been quite encouraging. The office was pretty much empty these days, with only Uyeno still showing up to do paperwork. You heard they'd specifically locked Hasagawa out of the building to force him to take a vacation.
"Yachi, you awake?" You whispered. After a few seconds, he whispered back.
"Yeah."
"It's 5:30. I'm getting up. You don't have to." You said.
He was already back asleep. You'd been worried that he wouldn't be able to sleep, you'd heard people say that could be a probably for war veterans, but it didn't seem to be for him.
You bustled about your morning routine, ironing your papers, taking your bath, making tea, checking the instruments outside. It was snowing very lightly, but the barometer made it seem unlikely it would get any worse. Good enough.
Yachi rolled to his feet at about eight, eating a hasty breakfast (you noticed he ate all his meals quickly) and getting cleaned up. You winced as you saw him pick up his razor in shaking hands, and you went over to him.
"I'm not saying you can't." You said, placing your hand on his. "... but it would make me feel a lot better if you let me do it."
The trembling intensified under your hand, but then he let his grip slacken and you took the handle from him.
"T-thanks Asuka. Fuck. I... it hasn't stopped." He said, staring at his hands. He told you it had started months ago, but he told himself it wasn't really happening, that he was just imagining it, and once he was pulled out of the war it had gotten much, much worse. The doctors speculated the constant rumble of the engine might have caused some sort of nerve damage, though you were skeptical. Train engineers spent comparable amounts of time on machines with similar characteristics and there wasn't some kind of track neurosis, was there?
Some dark and cruel corner of your brain told you that "Track Neurosis" would make an excellent, if incredibly insensitive, name for a trainspotting periodical.
"It's alright. Besides, I promise you, this'll be the closest shave of your life." You said. Most people who grew facial hair were merely adept at removing it. You were an expert.
You got bundled up and headed out to start the car, and you suppressed the impulse to make your usual "Contact/Hot!" joke as you did. That was another thing you were warned against, reminding the veteran about the front.
"Yachi, can you flip the starter switch for me?" You said, kneeling by the crank.
"You're supposed to say 'Contact'." He teased. Okay, maybe that advice was no good either. Or maybe it was okay when they did it?
"Contact!" You said.
"Hot!" He replied, and you started turning the crank until the engine popped and sputtered to life. You climbed in and smiled to him, and he smiled back, but it wasn't quite genuine.
"You okay?" You asked, over the engine. He made a sort of motion with his hand you didn't understand, then he spoke.
"I'm fine!" He said, obviously lying.
You killed the engine and took the streetcar.
---
"It's the smell. The petrol fumes. It... fuck. I think I just need more time." He said, his hands in his pockets. You nodded helplessly.
"It's okay! It just might be awkward if you have anything big." You said.
"Just my bike?" You could ride a motorcycle. It had been a minute, but you could.
"We'll load your bike up like a pack mule, get lunch, and I'll take it back to my place. You take the street car back, and everything's good?" You said. You hated leaving him even for less than an hour like this, but you couldn't think of another way.
"Sounds good."
---
It had been overkill, a little. Yachi's apartment was pretty bare. There was some souvenirs from his time in the colonies and about four pieces of civilian clothes, plus some pictures and books. It all fit into one of the bags you took.
The two of you walked his bike over to a shop nearby he loved, but the place had been shuttered during the war, so you found a nearby food stand, leaning the bike up against a tree.
"I'm just saying, it was really good. When I first moved here, I ate there like, every day."
"I don't doubt it was good." You said.
"I just don't understand why it's gone."
"Don't dwell on it, okay?"
This conversation was getting uncomfortably metaphorical.
You met back at your apartment and laid his things out on the shelves. There wasn't much.
You stepped back and leaned against him, taking his hand.
"What now?" You asked.
"I have no idea."
---
You did go back to work eventually, two days later. Yachi was heading across the city to visit his friend Amari, so at least you weren't leaving him alone.
Uyeno was there, in front of a half-disassembled Type 11. Satomi was sitting on the table, talking to her, and Coralie was there too, looking through sketches from the Duck project. You'd seen them all at New Years, but she had still been wearing a bandage then. Now it was off, exposing the fresh and still-red scar on her cheek. It was... not easy to look at, so you focused on her smile instead.
"Anything happen in my absence?" You asked. They shrugged.
"I think you got some papers to sign off on, I dunno. I'm sure Mr. Ohara can think of something." Uyeno said.
You headed to his office (the main Ohara offices were in a different building now, but he'd had a small connecting hallway built between them) and approached the door, ready to knock, when you heard voices from within.
Struck by a certain curiosity, you listened in.
"Well, when they do arrive, send them down to the yard. We've put it under the a tarp back there. Was a lot of work to get it, you know. And..."
"Of course, your payments will be on time as always. Lovely doing business with you, gentlemen." Mr. Ohara responded.
The two men that came through the door were yakuza. One of them smiled at you as he passed.
"Mx. Matsura. We left you a present outside, and, uh, you'll want this."
The man pressed a small business card into your hand. There was a phone code on it and the name Kaiji Kiriyama. "Import/Export Services".
Cute.
Mr. Ohara was sweating bullets when you came in, and he offered you a drink reflectively. It was, of course, nine in the morning.
"I presume they were here delivering my pulsejet engine?" You said.
"Matsura, I do not want to know. For liability reasons if nothing else." Mr. Ohara said, and you smiled.
"Of course. So... what's the plan?" You asked.
"The plan is that we're sitting on enough money to run the factory for five months, and then we need to start selling off assets." Mr. Ohara explained. "The Army cancelled the back half of the Dragonfly orders, though they'll pay the contract penalty, and we're still finishing out the Demon order." The Rhino had been renamed by somebody in PR during the trials, which you thought was silly. The official army reporting code was the J1M1, though you couldn't figure out what the J stood for.
"So... we're waiting on the report?" You said. The Report, the giant Army assessment of the impact of the air war on the general conflict, was going to be some sort of massive project involving interviews, reports, technical demos, the works. When it came, would probably involve a bevy of new orders from the military, but it would take a while. Uyeno had laughed and said she'd eat an entire pencil if it came out before October.
"We're waiting on the report, for government contracts at least." Mr. Ohara said. "So I figure we go back to doing what we should have been doing this whole time."
"What's that, sir?" You asked.
"Being pioneers. We've got the best engineers in the country, a pile of liquid capital, and nothing else to do. Let's make something." He said, grinning. "If nothing else, we can register some fucking patents again. No more giving Akibara all our secrets!
"But what do we make?"
"I don't know, Matsura. What do you have in mind?"
[ ] Let's blow the racing scene wide open.
[ ] I want to go for the altitude record.
[ ] I want the range record.
[ ] Let's build a passenger carrier.
[ ] I have some sketches for rotorcraft...
[ ] Write In.
You will be able to build a testbed for the pulsejet without specifically choosing that option, by the way.
"Simple. Let's do the Dolphin again, on land, for civil applications." You said. "Heavier than air transport, give von Zeppelin some competition."
"That... sounds pretty damn good." Mr. Ohara said. "I can probably drum up some investors for that even in this climate, too. Helps we have a proof of concept."
"Maybe this one will fly, unlike Guasti's disaster. Ten engines! The math was not on her side." You said, chuckling. Shame though. She was beautiful.
The two of you spent the next six hours hashing out a set of requirements, which was exciting. The prospect of a machine that, if it worked properly, wouldn't kill anyone was an exciting relief. Spirits, you just wanted to build some airplanes! Things had gotten so complicated over the war!
Budget, however, was an issue. Mr. Ohara was being strict about it: he wanted to make sure there was time for fallback plans if things fell through. Fair enough.
Passenger Aircraft
"You show me a machine that gets off the ground with ten passengers and flies a hundred kilometers, I'll sell my company on the spot!"
Budget: 26-34円 for the prototype.
Priority: Stability, Range, Passenger Capacity
Requirements: Achieve von Zeppelin's challenge and fly a hundred kilometers with ten passengers. Ought to work on land and be fairly reliable.
This restricted budget also affected expansion. There wasn't a lot of room to work with, and Mr. Ohara was not interested in expanding the factory right now.
Office Changes (Pick 2)
[ ] Expand the engineering team with...
- [ ] An Areodynamics Engineer (rolls for streamlining and related research)
- [ ] A Materials Engineer (rolls for mass reduction and related research)
- [ ] A Chemical Engineer (rolls for fuel & coolant optimization and related research)
- [ ] A Mechanical Engineer (rolls for engines and related research)
- [ ] A Ballistics Engineer (rolls for weapons and related research)
- [ ] An Electrical Engineer (rolls for electrical optimization like shrinking components)
About a week later, you found yourself back in Mr. Ohara's office, and you weren't exactly sure why.
"Why? Because I just had a member of the Special Higher Police come to my house, Matsura! They said you tried to get a Joseon national a security clearance for the engineering offices. What were you thinking?" He said. Not angry, exasperated. He got like this with you sometimes, when you pushed things a little too hard.
"I was thinking he was the best man for the job, sir." You replied simply.
"Really? You could find nobody more qualified than a graduate of..." He checked the paper again. "... the Imperial College of Heijo? Not exactly a prestigious school, is it? Does he even speak Akitsukuni?"
"He does. I didn't care about his school, sir. He wrote a paper on long term stress on internal combustion engines which was, frankly, a pleasure to read, and none of the other candidates compared. He's the man I need for this job."
Mr. Ohara gave you One Of Those Looks, but then his pen hit the paper and he signed the confirmation form. "Why do I keep gambling on you, Matsura?"
"Because I keep getting results, sir. Do have a problem with my other hire?"
"Them? They're fine. Another Horonai grad, something conventional. I swear, the engineering room sounds like a Lutetia cafe half the time..."
You smiled, collected your papers, and headed back. You had some telegrams to send to R&D.
---
Two days later, your new hires were welcomed into the office. Mi Kyung-Jae was a wiry little man with a pair of small glasses, who turned up to work extremely early in a very Western (and somewhat shabby) suit. You weren't really one to pay much attention to such things, but he looked incredibly nervous.
"You're sitting over there." You indicated, pointing with a pen to the free space at the corner. "You'll be working with Kibe and Koide on endurance modifications for the new engine. Kibe is also office manager, so any problems you have, you go to her. Any questions."
"No, thank you." He said, just the slightest hint of an accent, and he took his seat next to Koide. You overheard a short conversation between them which dipped, for a moment, into Joseon, before Mi protested that he wanted to practice his (judging by his paper, frankly impeccable) Akitsukuni. Koide's family owned... something over there. Steel works? Clothing factory? Something. She'd apparently picked up a smattering of the language that way.
Your other new hire arrived more punctually, and was the first nonbinary person in the office other than yourself. Miyoshi Shigeri was a little heavier set than yourself and a little taller, with a bit of a bowl cut to their hair. They'd gotten a fairly glowing recommendation from your material science professor, an old Gallian woman who, you were pretty sure, hated Akitsukuni, everyone in it, especially her students, and probably herself. Considering she'd never let your marks, otherwise impeccable across every other class, climb above average, you were impressed.
"I'm a huge fan of your work." They said, beaming as you greeted them. "We got to study a Desk in class, it was fascinating. I can't believe I'm going to work with you."
"That's fine." You said awkwardly. You were not good with this sort of thing. "You work over there. Kawamura is in charge, yeah, that one."
You headed over to your office and reviewed the papers from R&D. They'd done some quick research into travellers by the simple expedience of sending some interns down to the docks and finding out what people brought onto ferries. They determined that a proper passenger plane ought to have 10-15 kilograms allotted per passenger for their various Stuff (clothes, hats, odds and ends, and the luggage to put it in) and somewhere to stow it, if the plane was to properly enable passengers to actually travel properly. They also, through some simple polling of first-class passengers, determined that it would be quite vital to provide the passengers with some level of service, so they felt like they were getting their money's worth. To quote Suko's report, "A pretty young thing to offer them enough booze to keep them quiet for the flight, perhaps."
Quite.
Updated Requirements For each passenger, there must be 1 Mass of Cargo Space allotted. Additionally, one extra passenger not contributing to the total count (the flight attendant) and 1 mass of additional Cargo (the booze) will greatly increase chances of successful adaptation. (+2 bonus)
---
When you got home, Yachi was waiting. He'd insisted at first that he ought to look for work and was talking about factories and such, the Jobs Program, until you sat him down and told him that under no circumstances was he to take such a job. You made more than enough money for the both of you, it was unacceptable for him to shuffle off to a cannery for ten hours a day.
"I've not exactly got a lot of marketable skills right now." He said bitterly as you ate dinner. His chopsticks slipped in his trembling hand, and he swore furiously as he cleaned it up. "I... fuck. Asuka, I can't stay bottled up like this."
"You're not bottled up. You leave the house every day." You said. "And besides, the Army Commission says they want you for the air report, remember? That'll probably be full time for a while."
"Yeah. Not looking forward to that." He said.
"I know. All the more reason to cultivate a relaxing space without a lot of pressure." You said. "I know you need something to do, but you don't need something that will make things harder for you just to... prove something or whatever."
"... yeah. Maybe I'll find something part time." He said, and you smiled.
"I'll keep an eye out for you. Seriously though, a year at the front and two months in psych... you get to take a vacation. Enjoy it. Besides, we're going to have our hands full with all the weddings coming up." It was seriously rather absurd. You had Officer Horikiri Yoko's wedding to her girlfriend, which you were attending partially out of thanks for her watching over you and partially because you wanted to get to know your neighbours better, but Yachi wasn't invited to that one. Then Coralie and Satomi, which was going to be weird, because they were doing some kind of bizarre hybrid thing and there were even letting men attend the ceremony itself. Then Koide was marrying her Navy boy, and then... presumably...
Yachi's eyes fell a little. "Asuka. Um, do-"
Oh hell no. You saw where this was going.
"Arita Yachi, we are getting married by the end of the winter." You said decisively. "You don't ask for somebody's heart and then try to give it back."
"... but-"
"If you say something about being 'damaged', I'm throwing you out into the cold." You continued. "You're still the same man you were, you're just healing."
"Yeah. Yeah, you're right, I'm sorry." He said, shying away. Spirits, this was... it did hurt. It hurt seeing him like this, it hurt every day. But you weren't going to just abandon him because of it.
"It's alright." You assured him. "It's going to be okay."
---
Next update will be slice of life, which means no main vote, just snippet votes. What do you want to see Asuka get up to?
