156 The First Wasp (1/2)
Days since last Beast Tide: 28. Current Kill Count: 875 (34 since yesterday).
***
”Careful, now! Careful!” Arnold beckoned slowly.
Mindy slowly eased magic drive forward, carefully regulating a steady, small flow of mana. Bit by bit, she drifted toward him.
They were testing the half-built prototype of the new Wasp fighter while waiting for the docks to load Fire Copper and Flaming Bronze onto the Red Fang. It was a tense day for Mindy; that batch would be the last batch she needed before she'd be able to afford the second-hand Sky Galleon she'd targeted and still have money left over to buy metals from Kara-Goth to trade. In order to keep her mind off the tension, and her teeth off her fingernails, Mindy went over to find Arnold to distract herself and eventually ended up testing the much smaller airship.
The Wasp had three main sections, a forward pilot's station, a central power unit, and a rear gunner's station. By right, the corvette should be crewed by three people, preferably five or six. But Mindy was directly controlling the engine with her magic. Such raw control bypassed all the maneuvering systems and only allowed for the most simple directional movements. While not a good idea for actual flight, for the purposes of their current test, it was sufficient.
”Looking good!” Arnold said. ”Take it straight up and down, now…”
Mindy hesitated, then threw caution to the wind and sent in a burst of power to the engines.
The Wasp shot upwards. The ground fell away beneath her. Mindy had a queer feeling, like she'd left her stomach somewhere far below down there, and that she wasn't actually entirely here, up in the air, in this skeletal ten meter airship...
And then she let it drop. Rapidly, without anything to slow it down, like a rock, falling straight out of the sky…
Actually, no, even half-built, lacking its forward and aft gas envelopes, the Wasp already contained a fair amount of helium in its central segment. The lighter-than-air gasses drastically reduced the drop speed of the Wasp, even without power in the engines. In fact, the drop rate of the Wasp, unpowered, was less like a rock and more like… a twig, maybe?
After all, lacking half its frame, the current combined weight of this prototype wasn't as heavy as the final Wasp models were supposed to be.
That didn't stop Arnold from yelping and freaking out when Mindy made their prototype do the twenty foot hop. The poor guy practically fell over and dropped half his instruments, nearly tripping over his…
POW! Something sparked and burst near to Mindy. With a jump, Mindy reacted instinctively, her magic seizing control of the engine rather than gently manipulating it. With brute force, she brought all movement of the prototype to a full stop, not even dropping another inch toward the ground.
It would have been impossible if she'd been piloting a Galleon, or even a Frigate. But the corvette was just small enough, the structure was just bare enough that she actually managed to bring it to a stop the way she might put her feet down from a carriage to bring it to a stop. It was still a very bad idea; the strain nearly made her blank out, and the drain on her personal mana was frightening, to say the least… but she actually managed it.
”That was dangerous!” Arnold shouted. ”What were you thinking?!”
Mindy wasn't entirely certain as to which of her little stunts he was referring to, didn't suppose it mattered. Her brain felt like it had been stretched and then wrung dry all in a matter of moments, and there was a sudden, deep weariness in her very bones.
Letting out a groan, she admitted, ”That really was a bad idea.”
”You think?!” Arnold shot back.
”But at least now we know it can be done.” Mindy offered weakly.
”You did NOT have to do it like that!” Arnold barked. ”There's such a thing as safety precautions! And more importantly, you could have TOLD ME FIRST!”
Mindy didn't answer. She just held her head and groaned.
”I think that's enough for today.” Arnold said tartly. ”Next time… don't SCARE me like that!”
”S… sorry…” Mindy rubbed her forehead. ”I… I'm going to find something to eat.”
It was early for lunch, still about half an hour before noon, but Arnold simply nodded. ”You do that. I'll try and see what went pop just now. The Wasp is supposed to be able to make high speed maneuvers all the time. We can't have things going 'pow' every time it tries to dodge something.”