Fun activities with the Hooman hosts

Deadbeat Report

Lieutenant Akai was excited for the day ahead. Once formalities had been completed, their Hooman hosts had proposed a series of activities to their Risuner guests. Desuvius and Justicia theorized this was to keep the rowdy group busy more than anything; left to their own devices, they had caused some trouble in town.

Speaking of Justicia, she'd been on the moon during the first day of activities. It was to be expected, she was a trained botanist, so some foreign farms were sure to be of interest to her. Desuvius had to admit such curiosity was probably why she was selected to meet with the Saplings, but all the talk of irrigation techniques, crop rotation, soil enrichment flew over his head. What they did the next day also flew over their heads, but this time Desuvius understood why. The hot air balloon were a staple of Hooman culture, renowned for their idyllic beauty. Desuvius kind of scoffed at them, they seemed like a pleasure attraction more than anything, left up to the whims of the wind as they were, but Justicia noted that his beloved ships were just as dependent on those. Hm. That even got a chuckle from that young Hooman sergeant Ramy or something. This girl could be annoying, whose team was she on? Anyway, not everyone did, but she got to take a ride on the device.

She didn't stop ranting about how pretty the farm fields were from up there afterwards, but Desuvius knew he only had to bide his time for the day. On the morrow, that is, today, he'd get his fun.

They called them the Wisdoms. Based on the accounts the lieutenant had received, he'd expected something similar to the Kronie's ironclads. Most sailors in the Black Fleet would have come across one of those if one of their assignments had taken them to the Ocean on the other side of the Holo-Niji landbridge. But those ships were remarkably different in design. They looked faster for one, were faster if Rémy's descriptions were correct, being driven by both sail and one of those screwed implements. Desuvius had heard of some Naval Academy engineers back home working on similar parts, but fabrication was easy enough, Deadbeats had to grown to be specialists of metalcasting. The issue was driving them. Steam engines were either tremendously complex, or tremendously wasteful... At least, that was what Desuvius thought. While touring the first Wisdom, their guide did not take them to the engine room, to his disappointment.

They did come across its armament, however. The ship was smaller than some of the Fleet's ships-of-the-line, but it was high-tech all the way through. The cannons were each drilled and bored to a fine finish, as good as any found in the latest Moriji frigate, and it had specialized ammunition rooms to reduce the risks of deflagration. But of most interest were pieces with a strange relief on the bore. Only two of the pieces had this feature. Desuvius had to rack his brain for why this was familiar to him, and remembered: some fancy guns were like this, "rifled", which improved range, velocity, accuracy...

While he was thinking of all that, Rémy was explaining it to the guests. The Risuners ooh'd and aah'd at the technology on display. It seemed like Risuners had a habit of having fancy boats shown to them, Mori only knew how much of that had happened during their visit to Moriji. Desuvius didn't dare ask any questions to Rémy; he was rightfully a bit suspicious of the Deadbeat lieutenant, he likely knew of his background in weapon manufacturing, but Desuvius could help but walk around and peek into the mouth of the rifled weapon.

As suspected, these were incredibly smooth, square, and went all the way down the bore. There was no way these had been engraved by a tool in a man's hands, like all rifling was back home. Some other process had to be at play...

"Ah, Sir Deadbeat! I'd advise against moving in front of the cannon, one should always assume a firearm is loaded and ready to fire." Desuvius apologized for his candidness, though he doubted the dutiful Hooman sergeant was very concerned for his safety. The visit continued without incidents, the Deadbeats were particularly impressed by the thickness of the ironclad's plating, he doubted a frigate's 36-pounder would be able to do more than dent it, and he wasn't completely confident in the chances of even their ship-of-the-line's biggest calibers...

The next part of their visit took them to the shipyard. This is a place where Desuvius truly felt at home, while ol' Justicia seemed annoyed at the sound of screaming metal and boiling oil. The second Wisdom was still rather skeletal, but it was shaping up to be just as fearsome as the first one. Desuvius tried to talk shop with some of the machinists, but most of them did not seem to know Holoimperial, or at least they did not want to speak it. Seeing the yard was fun enough though. Rémy was very passionate the topic, even Justicia who was lukewarm regarding those matters seemed to be enthralled by his explanations. At some point, she asked him: "Sergeant, you seem quite knowledgeable in these affairs, I'm wondering, did you have a stint in the Republic's Navy before joining the border guard? I would like to know if I'm speaking with a fellow sailor." Justicia's smile was kind and innocently curious, but Rémy grew a bit somber for a moment, before he composed itself. "No, Lieutenant Kinui, I was never a part of our glorious Navy. I am flattered my cognizance gave you this impression." His answer was polite and accompanied by a short bow, but it was visibly not a topic he enjoyed, so the topic was dropped thereafter.

The installation ran smoothly and rhythmically, with clear production chains ensuring maximized efficiency in the processes. Near the end of the visit, Desuvius noted a currently inactive machine in a corner. It was one of the few things covered with a tarp, but unlike other tools in disuse, the tarp wasn't dusty at all, it must have been covered recently. Desuvius took the liberty of approaching and lifting the blanket, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Rémy and the others were busy admiring a large metal lathe drilling one of the smoothbore cannons. Desuvius had a strange sight before him, it featured a large screw inserted in a rotating nut, and a complex contraption at the end. Desuvius recognized it as a hardened steel cutting tool, the most complex one he'd ever seen. It tapered in size with steps and multiple indexable edges, and the diameter was quite large, about as big... Yes, this tool seemed like it would fit the large rifled cannon seen on the ironclad. Desuvius let the screw turn in his mind's eye and saw what action it was meant for, this was a broaching tool, a broaching tool which rotated while cutting. What an incredible invention...

A hand gently, but firmly took hold of his shoulder. "Ah Desuvius, I must ask you not to come so close to the covered machines. These things can be sharp and dangerous, yes?" There was a very annoyed glint in the sergeant's eye, now. 'I better not push my luck anymore', thought the Deadbeat, while apologizing for his insatiable curiosity.

'What a great day this was', was what was on his mind when he returned to the inn that evening.