Sweeten Ch3 bit – Quartermaster

~ crossovercreativechaos

“A quartermaster.” Yukina listened to the rhythm of the Koutetsujou as they thundered through the early morning, relaxing a bit as it continued unbroken. Nidai was coming along as the Hayajiro’s second engineer, and they weren’t going anywhere near full throttle. She could give Lady Ayame her full attention. “So long as we’re on this Hayajiro, that might be better held by a steamsmith, with a noble’s backing.”

Might. She wasn’t sure. There was so much she didn’t know. Engineering, Yukina could do with her eyes closed. The politics of dealing with stations and passengers? Kami, she could have used years more to learn that.

“That sounds reasonable,” Ayame agreed, regarding lists of wanted supplies on the conference table. Kurusu leaned against the wall behind her, the scowl on his face clear evidence that a night’s sleep hadn’t changed his conviction that they were all mad. Or possibly concussed. “Although, once we reach a live station and word of Kongokaku’s fall spreads… the situation may change quickly.”

“When hasn’t it?” Yukina planted a finger on one of the lists to look it over herself. Daita iron was up at the top, along with gunpowder, burst charges, and a few odds and ends she was beginning to recognize as Ikoma wants to test something. She almost felt sorry for Kurusu. Almost. “Now what is he up to?”

“I thought we should see if we could improve the guardian cannon?” Ayame glanced up toward the hatch leading to their salvaged gun. “When Hozumi jumped into the Fused Colony… that was too risky. What if no one had caught her?”

“Hmm.” Yukina nodded. She hadn’t seen that part of the battle, but she could imagine. “Test it pointing out the back of the Koutetsujou.”

22 thoughts on “Sweeten Ch3 bit – Quartermaster”

  2. As does much of video entertainment. So, when people in the “versus” threads in SB and SV take the visuals at face value when comparing/contrasting “feats” between whatever/whoever is being discussed, it can get pretty wild.

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    1. While the argument about RoC messing up “feats” calculations is valid, the counterpart to it is “just because something is blatantly cool and over-the-top doesn’t mean it should be discounted as a valid measurement point if it is one that is consistently shown to be standard operating procedure, and considered commonplace and routine by everyone in-setting”. I’ve seen RoC be used as an argument against measurements too often, when it is clearly actually normal for the setting.

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  3. Of course, lets not forget that’s why Mythbusters was (is still?) so popular, to show the absurdity that “Hollywood” and Urban Legends come up with- along with those examples where the crazy shit actually does work.

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  4. Kurusu leaned against the wall behind her, the scowl on his face clear evidence that a night’s sleep hadn’t changed his conviction that they were all mad. Or possibly concussed.

    Or both. Both would explain a lot, to our poor bodyguard’s way of thinking.

    There are a myriad of reasons why this is insane and wouldn’t work.

    On the other hand, there is all the reasons why it might not be as insane as it first sounds.

    Might be the non-snippet parts because being adopted into a bushi clan might be handy for the simple reason that between his own personality and being Kabaneri, Ikoma probably has limits on just how much time he can take being around people. People might not get that they need to give said steam-smith his space or see the warning signs that it’s time to leave him alone because he’s a steam-smith, how dangerous could he be, etc. People probably don’t make that mistake with a bushi, adopted or not.

    In addition to the whole, there are people they might need to listen to them who won’t listen to a steam-smith but might listen to a bushi. And he can’t always count on Kurusu or Kibito or one of the others being there to do that.

    The politics of dealing with stations and passengers?

    Yeah . . . ick.

    Engineering is easier in many ways. Because you are doing, for the most part, with tools and machines instead of people.

    A machine doesn’t do what you need to it because it simply cannot do that particular thing (that’s not what it was made for or could be used for), or it got broken or damaged. Not because it’s holding a grudge against you or someone you’re associated with. Machines aren’t petty*

    Mending a machine can be easy. Just materials, tools, knowledge, and time. Mending human relationships that have gone sour needs all that and more. and still might not be enough if the other party is bound and determined not to cooperate.

    *I do acknowledge that they can certainly seem that way. For example when you can’t figure what, exactly, your computer is having a problem with.

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    1. Kurusu is probably thinking about that mess in Shitori Station that’s already happened, so far as “won’t listen to a steamsmith”. Granted that was Ikoma AND Takumi causing trouble, so Kurusu is mulling over the fact that they’ll have to make it clear that Koutetsujou steamsmiths are not to be trifled with.

      (The merchants already know this about Kajika!)

      And yes. There’s more than one reason the rest of the Hayajiro plans to take very good care of Ayame. She’s trained for the politics stuff!

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      1. Granted that was Ikoma AND Takumi causing trouble . . .

        Which I assume they had a good reason for doing?

        Kurusu is mulling over the fact that they’ll have to make it clear that Koutetsujou steamsmiths are not to be trifled with.

        Good idea.

        Hopefully that can be beaten into most people’s head with a minimum of fuss. Can’t do anything about the idiots who just don’t listen but if the bulk listen . . . one less headache.

        She’s trained for the politics stuff!

        And as far as most of them are concerned, she is more than welcome to it.

        Almost anything but politics.

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      2. “Good reason”. Hmm. Does “We were here first!” count? Because that’s where it started – they were getting parts and a local bushi barged in wanting his rifle looked at. Aaaaand then he knocked over the bolts and things escalated quickly….

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      3. Not generally . . . . mostly because it’s kind of childish . . . of course so is barging in and demanding that someone stop whatever it is that they are doing and do what you want them to do right that minute . . . yes, having your rifle work is important but still . . . manners.

        Maybe fill that incident under “Well, that could have gone better.”

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      6. Well… actually, they did have a reason? The station had told them they had to be out the very next day. So, they were working under a time crunch to get their supplies.

        Mind, the bit with the bushi definitely could have gone more politely. Maybe. Kurusu has made a mental note to get straight exactly what happened and how much damage control might be needed.

        Lucky for everyone, Ikoma didn’t show off that much. As long as people think he has a lot more experience with martial arts than he actually did, it wasn’t even unusual… for a bushi. For a steamsmith, yes.

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  5. …you realize, of course, you have just Set a Flag requiring that, at some point, they fire the cannon while taking a curve Way Too Fast in order to use the recoil to keep them from tipping over. 😀
    “Fire to the OUTSIDE of the turn!”

    Kidding side, it does make the “chase scene” where Takumi first used the cannon make sense — depending on the degree of recoil, it might well only be safe to fire these cannon in a narrow arc forward or aft, because that turret-car has *got* to be awfully topheavy. Firing it laterally, even stationary, could pose a real rollover risk. There are stories of WW2-era Jeeps mounted with Ma Deuces that could get rolled over by recoil when firing near the 3-o’clock or 9-o’clock vectors. Probably apocryphal, since the .50 BMG round can be fired from an “ordinary” rifle, even from the standing position (better be *well* braced, though). But the Willys Jeep had rollover issues to begin with, so it’s not hard to imagine “firing on the move” scenarios where the recoil ended up being the straw that flipped the camel over, to mangle a metaphor.

    Of course, Ikoma being Ikoma, how long before he starts thinking about ways to convert their Big Gun into a “recoilless” rifle…. :p

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